THE 


AMERICAN 

WHEAT  CULTUEIST. 

Ji  frattal  Swatise 

ON  THE 

CTJLTIJRE  OF  WHEAT, 

EMBRACING   A   BRIEF  HISTORY  AND  BOTANICAL    DESCRIPTION  OF  WHEAT, 
WITH    FULL    PRACTICAL     DETAILS    FOR    SELECTING    SEED,    PRO- 
DUCING   NEW    VARIETIES,    AND    CULTIVATING    ON 
DIFFERENT    KINDS    OF    SOIL. 

Elufitrated  with  Num&rous  Engravings  of  a  Practical  Character. 


BY  S.  EDWARDS  TODD, 

AGRICULTURAL  AND  HORTICULTURAL  EDITOR  OF  THE   NEW  YORK  TIMES,  AND  AUTHOR 
OP  "  THE  YOUNG  FARMER^  MANUAL,"  ETC.,   ETC. 


NEW  YORK : 

TAINTOE  BKOTHEES   &   CO., 

229  BROADWAY. 
1868. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 

TAINTOE  BROTHERS  &  CO., 

In  the  Clerk's   Office  of  the   District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


THE  NEW  YORK  PRINTING  COMPANY, 

81,  83,  AND  %$  Centre  Street, 

NEW  YORK. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEK  I. 

PAGE 

Introduction    to    Wheat    Culture  —  Botanical    Description    of 

Wheat — Description  of  Varieties, 9 

CHAPTEK  II. 

Soil  for  Wheat,  and  Preparation — Culture  and  Fructification,     .  120 

CHAPTEK  III. 

Saving   Seed  Grain — Procuring  Early  Varieties — When  to  Sow 

Wheat, ^35^ 

CHAPTEK  IY. 

Wheat  Harvest — General  Management  of  Wheat — Machinery,     .  335 

CHAPTEK  Y. 

Mildew — Diseases  of  Wheat — Insect  Enemies  of  Wheat — Reme- 
dies for  Insect  Ravages, 406 


PREFACE. 


MY  apology  for  writing  a  book  on  wheat  is  simply  my 
desire  to  aid  farmers  in  their  efforts  to  produce  more  bountiful 
crops  of  this  kind  of  grain.  For  more  than  forty  successive 
years,  I  have  had  more  or  less  practical  experience  in  the  cul- 
ture of  wheat.  I  have  studied  the  habit  of  the  wheat  plant 
far  more,  perhaps,  than  the  great  mass  of  farmers  have  con- 
sidered the  subject  to  be  of  any  practical  importance.  I  have 
investigated  the  failures  of  the  wheat  crop,  and  endeavored  to 
discover  efficient  and  practical  remedies. 

I  have  excluded  from  the  book  every  subject  that  might 
leave  the  ambitious  young  farmer  in  doubt;  and  have  simply 
made  a  record  of  my  own  practical  experience.  There  are 
scores  of  successful  farmers  who  know  most  of  what  is  con- 
tained in  these  pages.  But  the  great  mass  of  young  farmers, 
who  are  just  taking  the  places  of  their  fathers,  have  yet  to 
learn  the  important  fundamental  principles  laid  down  in  this 
work.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of  active  men,  who  know 
little  about  the  practical  part,  of  raising  wheat,  will  find  in  the 
following  pages  exactly  the  information  they  must  have,  before 
they  can  raise  a  bountiful  crop  of  this  kind  of  grain. 

Some  of  the  articles  were  prepared  originally  by  my  pen, 
for  the  Independent,  New  York  Observer,  New  York  Times,  and 
American  Agriculturist.  But  after  publication  in  those  papers, 
they  were  rewritten  and  revised.  I  herewith  desire  to  give 
honorable  and  honest  credit  for  anything  that  has  appeared  in 
those  periodicals  and  in  this  book  also. 

With  a  few  exceptions,  the  illustrations  were  originally  pre- 
pared by  myself  for  this  book.  The  use  of  cuts  on  pages  11, 
25,  27,  28,  29,  30,  39,  99,  406,  407,  408,  415,  has  been  kindly 


Vlll  PREFACE. 

afforded  by  Moore,  Wilstack  &  Baldwin,  Cincinnati,  O.,  and 
62  Walker  St.,  New  York  City,  publishers  of  "Klippart's 
Wheat  Plant."  I  have  quoted  a  few  pages  from  his  work ;  and 
I  sincerely  hope  every  reader  will  procure  a  copy,  as  it  will 
be  found  an  excellent  introductory  treatise  to  this  book. 

I  have  aimed  to  bring  out  in  these  pages  all  the  facts  on 
wheat  culture  that  young  farmers  will  be  ambitious  to  know. 
If  they  will  peruse  this  book  with  care,  they  will  find  an  answer 
to  nearly  every  question  that  they  may  wish  to  have  answered 
about  wheat.  Although  my  instructions  are  strictly  elemen- 
tary, they  are  by  no  means  superficial.  Mere  theories  have 
been  discarded.  My  aim  has  been  to  tell  farmers  how  to  raise 
good  wheat,  where  their  predecessors  failed  to  get  fair  crops. 
If  they  follow  my  directions,  success  will  crown  their  efforts. 

I  have  frequently  referred  to  my  first  and  second  volumes 
of  The  Young  Farmer's  Manual.  The  first  has  met  with  an 
excellent  reception.  The  second  is  just  issued ;  and  is  follow- 
ing the  first.  This  Wheat  Culturist  may  be  called  a  third  vol- 
ume, as  they  are  intimately  connected  with  each  other. 

Illustrations  of  certain  farm  implements  have  been  intro- 
duced for  the  express  purpose  of  directing  beginners  where  to 
procure  reliable  tools  and  machines  that  stand  preeminently 
the  highest  in  our  country. 

Read  the  Index  and  Table  of  Contents. 

SERENO  EDWARDS  TODD, 

Office  New  York  Times,  New  York  City. 


THE   WHEAT  CULTURIST. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTION  TO  WHEAT  CULTURE. 

"  The  sire  of  gods  and  men  with  hard  decrees, 
Forbids  our  plenty  to  be  bought  with  ease ; 
And  wills,  that  mortal  men  inured  to  toil, 
Should  exercise  with  pains,  the  grudging  soil." 

UNREMITTING  diligence  is  the  price  of  material  luxuries. 
The  beautiful  compensation  principle  seems  to  pervade 
the  entire  domain  of  all  animated  existence.  Well- 
directed  skill  and  industry  are  always  crowned  with  a 
satisfactory  reward.  To  do  something — to  make  some- 
thing— to  give  material  substances  a  variety  of  forms — to 
produce  something  useful  out  of  certain  useless  sub- 
stances, is  a  consideration  worthy  of  our  highest  ambi- 
tion. There  is  an  indescribable  satisfaction  in  doing 
something.  There  is  a  charm  in  industry.  The  man 
who  toils  through  a  long  summer's  day  to  catch  a  single 
trout  experiences  an  enjoyment  when  partaking  of  his 
frugal  meal  which  he  could  never  feel  were  the  same 
fish  taken  by  other  hands.  And  the  same  is  true  of  him 
who  cultivates  the  soil  to  secure  his  daily  bread.  Were 

1* 


10  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

a  field  of  wheat  to  spring  up  spontaneously,  and  were  we 
not  required  to  break  up  the  stubborn  ground  and  culti- 
vate it,  and  put  in  the  well-selected  seed,  existence  would 
not  bring  half  the  pleasures  which  it  now  proffers  so 
freely.  The  all-wise  Creator  foresaw  that  it  would  always 
be  better  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  to  have  some- 
thing to  do,  than  to  spend  their  days  in  idleness.  For  this 
reason,  if  we  would  have  fine  wheat  for  making  excellent 
bread  for  ourselves  and  children,  we  must  labor  for  it. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  some  writers  that  the  diffi- 
culties attending  the  production  of  delicious  fruits,  and 
fine  grain,  seem  to  increase  with  developments  in  arts  and 
science.  As  our  day  is,  so  shall  our  knowledge  be.  Our 
ancestors  cultivated  wheat  with  but  little  difficulty.  As 
soon,  therefore,  as  scientific  men  were  competent  to  devise 
remedies  for  the  insect  and  other  enemies  in  checking 
the  growth  of  the  wheat  crop,  the  foes  appeared.  Science 
has  taught  us  that,  if  we  would  have  ripe  fruit,  we  must 
destroy  the  insects  which  will  devour  the  young  fruit  or 
kill  the  tree.  And  science  has  taught  us  that,  when  we 
would  grow  wheat,  as  we  are  unable  to  exterminate  the 
hordes  of  insects  that  would  feed  upon  the  crop,  we  must 
cultivate  and  enrich  the  soil  so  as  to  make  the  plants  grow 
faster  than  the  insects  can  eat. 


CHEMICAL  STRUCTURE  OF  WHEAT. 

In  common  parlance,  when  wheat  is  alluded  to,  the 
bran  and  the  flour  only  are  spoken  of.  The  bran  is  the 
tough  skin  that  envelops  the  part  that  makes  the  flour. 
Then,  when  we  discourse  farther  of  wheat,  we  say  that 
the  part  that  makes  the  flour  is  composed  principally  of 
starch  and  gluten. 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


11 


Now,  if  with  a  sharp  knife  we  slice  up  a  kernel  of 
wheat  into  thin  sections,  and  examine  it  with  a  glass  of 
greatly  magnifying  power,  the  various  parts  will  appear 
similar    to   the    ac- 
companying     illus- 
tration,  which  rep- 
resents    a     portion 
of  a  kernel  of  wheat 
highly      magnified. 
The  part  of  the  ker- 
nel   represented   by 
a    a    shows   an  ex- 
ceedingly thin  por- 
tion of  the  external 
part    of    the    bran. 
The   section    repre- 
sented by  I  reveals 
a  second  layer  filled 
with  minute  pores. 
At  c  is  a  third  layer, 
much  more  delicate 
than   either   of   the 
others,  which   is  so 
exquisitely  fine,  that 
its     presence      can 
scarcely  be  detected, 
even  by  the  aid  of 
a  good  glass.     The  part  of  the  illustration  at  d,  repre- 
sents the  portion  of  the  kernel  which  is  composed  prin- 
cipally of  gluten.      "  These  four  layers  constitute  the 
bran.     The  gluten  in  the  cells,  <#,  appears  to  be  a  faint 
yellowish  substance,  very  small  grained,  and  oily  to  the 
touch  and  smell.      The  cells  in  which  the  gluten   is 


FIG.  1. — Section  of  a  kernel  of  wheat  highly  mag- 
nified. 


12  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

formed  are  rather  larger  than  any  of  the  cells  of  the 
three  layers  just  described,  the  walls  of  which  are  per- 
haps more  delicate  than  any  others  in  the  entire  kernel." 
Directly  beneath  the  cells  of  gluten,  d,  lies  the  albumi- 
nous portion  of  the  seed,  which  consists  of  hexagonal 
prismatic  cells,  which  are  filled  with  ovoid  granules  of 
starch,  shown  at  e.  These  granules  of  starch,  f,  are 
enveloped  in  several  layers  of  cellulose,  or  cell  mem- 
brane, which,  when  heated  to  excess  in  water,  burst 
and  exude  the  starch  contained  in  them.  Gluten 
aifords  large  quantities  of  nitrogenous  matter. 

INFLUENCE  OF  CLIMATE  ON  PLANTS. 

A  writer  in  the  "  Portland  Press  "  gives  some  facts  to 
show  that  a  northern  climate,  within  certain  limits,  is 
better  adapted  to  those  plants  which  yield  food,  than 
the  warmer  climate,  where  the  same  plant  is  indigenous. 
In  order  to  succeed  most  satisfactorily,  he  thinks  south- 
ern plants  must  be  carried  to  a  latitude  north  of  the 
place  where  they  grow.  He  writes  : 

"  That  a  northern  climate  is  more  conducive  to 
health  than  a  southern  one,  is  generally  admitted  ;  but 
that  its  influence  upon  the  vegetable  kingdom  is  more 
propitious  to  the  perfectability  of  plants  necessary  for 
the  sustenance  of  man  and  of  beast,  is  a  proposition 
perhaps  not  so  generally  noticed  and  adopted  as  it 
should  be.  In  these  cold  northern  regions  wTe  some- 
times need  to  be  apprised  of  facts  which  will  rebuke 
the  spirit  of  discontent,  and  make  us  more  reconciled 
to  the  climate  in  which  Providence  has  cast  our  lot. 

"  The  influence  of  climate  upon  plants  is  unquestion- 
able. Those  carried  from  the  North  to  the  South  gen- 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  13 

erally  deteriorate ;  those  brought  from  the  South  are 
generally  improved  by  the  transfer.  In  the  process  of 
vegetable  acclimation,  nature  indicates  that  plants 
should  emigrate  toward  the  fields  and  gardens  of 
northern  cultivation,  rather  than  that  northern  cultiva- 
tors should  emigrate  toward  south-born  plants.  The 
process,  indeed,  is  slow,  but  it  is  sure.  Tropical  plants, 
which  once  could  hardly  exist  beyond  a  vertical  sun, 
have,  by  acclimation,  been  transferred  to  temperate  lati- 
tudes, and  made  to  yield  larger  and  better  fruits  than 
they  ever  were  capable  of  yielding  in  their  native 
soils. 

"  In  general  it  is  true  that  all  cultivated  plants  yield 
the  greatest  products,  and  these  of  an  improved  quality r, 
near  the  northernmost  limit  in  which  they  will  ripen. 
This  is  true  of  all  the  farinaceous  plants,  such  as  rice, 
maize,  wheat,  rye,  oats,  barley,  and  millet ;  of  all  tuber- 
ous and  bulbous  roots,  as  potatoes,  carrots,  beets,  turnips, 
parsnips,  and  radishes ;  of  all  lint  plants,  as  cotton,  hemp, 
and  flax  ;  of  the  salad  family,  as  cabbage,  lettuce,  endive, 
and  spinach  ;  of  all  the  grasses,  from  timothy  and  red- 
top  to  lucern  and  the  clovers,  red  and  white  ;  of  all  the 
gourd  family,  from  pumpkins  and  squashes  to  cucumbers, 
gherkins,  and  musk  and  water  melons  ;  of  all  delicious 
and  pulpy  fruits — as  apples,  pears,  peaches,  nectarines, 
grapes,  plums,  cherries,  currants,  gooseberries,  and  straw- 
berries. It  is  also  equally  true  of  sugar  cane,  sorgo,  and 
tobacco.  Each  and  all  of  these  most  important  products 
of  the  earth  are  improved  by  northern  acclimation,  and 
when  brought  as  far  into  the  high  latitudes  as  they  can 
be  made  to  grow  and  mature,  are  found  to  produce  in 
the  greatest  perfection  and  of  a  more  excellent  quality. 
The  reason  is  this  :  the  hot  sun  of  a  southern  sky  forces 


14  THE   WHEAT   CTJLTURIST. 

the  plants  into  a  rapid  fructification  before  they  have 
had  time  to  concoct  their  juices.  The  growth  in  stalk, 
vine,  and  foliage  is  too  much  for  the  composition  ot 
fruit." 

It  is  stated  by  respectable  authority,  that  wheat  raised 
in  Virginia  is  better  for  making  white  bread  than 
northern  grain.  The  wheat  grown  in  Missouri  and  in 
California  yields  a  flour  that  commands  a  higher  price 
in  market  than  the  northern  wheat.  The  flour  of  the 
California  wheat  is  said  to  yield  a  larger  percentage  of 
gluten  than  wheat  that  was  grown  in  latitudes  north 
of  the  latitude  of  California. 

I  pen  these  suggestions  simply  for  the  purpose  of 
awakening  in  young  farmers  a  spirit  of  investigation, 
with  a  view  of  encouraging  them  to  take  critical  obser- 
vations on  every  subject  connected  with  the  cultivation 
of  this  valuable  grain. 

GROWING  WHEAT  THEN  AND  Now. 

The  question  is  asked  with  no  little  solicitude,  why 
farmers  cannot  raise  as  good  wheat  at  the  present  time 
as  they  did  fifty  years  ago  ?  Then,  a,  crop  of  wheat  was 
as  sure  as  a  crop  of  Indian  corn ;  and,  in  numerous  in- 
.stances,  three  bountiful  crops  of  wheat  were  taken  from 
the  same  field,  in  three  successive  seasons.  I  well  re- 
member, when  a  small  lad,  that  my  father  raised  three 
crops  of  wheat  in  one  of  his  fields  in  three  successive 
years ;  and  the  third  year,  the  growing  grain  seemed 
heavier  than  either  of  the  preceding  crops.  Then,  with 
miserable  cultivation,  and  only  a  small  quantity  of 
inferior  barnyard  manure,  a  farmer  could  count  upon  a 
heavy  crop  of  first-rate  wheat,  with  almost  absol  ute  cer- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  15 

tainty.  But  now,  many  of  our  best  farmers  have  met 
with  so  many  serious  failures  and  disappointments  in 
their  wheat  crops,  that  they  are  sometimes  exceedingly 
loath  to  try  again. 

The  true  causes  of  failure  have  not,  as  yet,  been  satis- 
factorily unravelled.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the 
product  of  good  wheat  has  riot  only  diminished,  but  the 
quality  of  the  grain  has  greatly  deteriorated.  Then, 
it  was  a  common  occurrence  to  see  an  entire  crop  of 
wheat  as  fair  and  plump  as  the  best  qualities  of  seed 
grain  at  the  present  day.  Scientific  farmers  and  in- 
telligent laborers  have  been  anxiously  inquiring  after 
the  cause;  and  one  has  assigned  the  ravages  of  the 
midge  as  the  main  cause,  while  others  have  attributed 
the  failure  of  crops  to  the  increased  severity  of  climatic  in- 
fluences following  the  removing  of  our  extensive  forests. 
Besides  these  causes,  others  have  assigned  another,  to 
them,  plausible  cause,  which  is  the  diminution  of  those 
elements  of  fertility  in  the  soil  which  are  essential  to  the 
formation  of  the  grain.  But  all  these  reasons  have  been 
satisfactorily  refuted,  in  most  instances,  when  taken 
alone.  We  must,  therefore,  attribute  the  failure — not 
to  any  single  cause — but  to  a  variety  of  such  causes  as 
have  been  mentioned,  operating  together  to  the  great 
injury  of  the  wheat  crop.  There  is  one  observation  in 
which  I  think  every  intelligent  farmer  will  coincide  with 
me,  which  is  this :  If  a  piece  of  new  land  be  sowed 
with  choice  seed  wheat,  and  a  dense  forest  protects  the 
field  during  the  winter,  and  if  the  midge  do  not  injure 
the  growing  crop,  the  yield  will  be  about  as  bountiful 
as  crops  were  forty  years  ago.  These  hints  suggest 
what  is  required  in  order  to  succeed  in  raising  a  bountir 
ful  crop  of  wheat. 


16  THE    WHEAT   CULTURI8T. 

In  the  year  1861-62,  I  was  ruralizing  in  Monroe  Co., 
N.  Y.,  when  I  penned  the  following  suggestion,  touch- 
ing the  culture  of  wheat  in  the  wheat-producing  part 
of  the  State : 

In  the  county  of  Monroe,  thirty  or  more  years  ago, 
raising  wheat  was  attended  with  remarkably  good  sue 
cess.  Indeed,  wheat  was  the  great  staple  with  farmers 
for  many  successive  years.  Many  old  farmers  with 
whom  I  conversed,  pointed  out  to  me  whole  farms,  here 
and  there,  and  many  large  fields,  where  the  yield  was 
seldom  less  than  forty  bushels  of  most  beautiful  wheat 
per  acre ;  and,  in  many  instances,  the  yield  would  be 
fifty  bushels.  But  at  the  present  time,  on  the  same  soil, 
the  yield  is  expressed  by  any  number  from  eight  to 
thirty  bushels  per  acre. 

"  We  cannot  raise  wheat  now,  as  we  could  once,"  was 
the  oft-repeated  expression  among  old  farmers  ;  and  the 
reason  assigned,  usually,  was  the  "  insects — the  wheat 
midge  makes  such  ravages  in  the  crop."  Thirty  or  forty 
years  ago,  they  had  all  the  advantages  of  a  most  excellent 
virgin  soil,  which  was  as  well  adapted  to  wheat  as  any 
other  crop ;  and  had  there  been  proper  care  exercised 
with  reference  to  keeping  the  soil  in  a  good  state  of  fer- 
tility, by  making  and  applying  as  much  barnyard  manure 
as  was  practicable,  there  never  would  have  been  such  a 
decrease  in  the  number  of  bushels  per  acre,  as  farmers 
now  talk  of.  Old  farmers  have  told  that  "  here  on  these 
fields  we  once  could  raise  three  crops  of  wheat  in  succes- 
sion, and  the  third  would  be  fully  equal  to  the  first."  Of 
course,  under  such  a  system  of  farm  management,  the 
most  productive  soil  that  can  be  found  in  the  country 
would  fail  to  produce  a  remunerating  crop,  after  so  many 
years  of  hard  cropping.  I  was  assured  that  thirty  years 


THE   WHEAT    CTTLTTJRI8T.  17 

ago  they  were  sure  of  a  good  crop  of  wheat,  even  when 
the  soil  was  very  poorly  cultivated.  But  now  wheat 
was  the  most  uncertain  crop  that  they  attempted  to  cul- 
tivate. 

WINTER  WHEAT — Triticum  Hybernum. 
SPRING  WHEAT — Triticum  (Estivum. 

"  In  the  rich  soil,  clean  wheat  we  sow ; 
Out  of  the  soil,  fine  wheat  we  grow ; 
In  measureless  store,  we  garner  the  sheaves 
When  the  kernels  are  ripe,  and  dry  the  leaves ; 
Out  of  the  sheaves,  pure  wheat  we  beat ; 
Out  of  the  chaff,  we  winnow  the  wheat." 

EDWARDS. 

Wheat  is  one  of  the  most  excellent  of  our  cereal 
grains.  Botanicalty ,  wheat  is  one  of  the  grasses.  But, 
from  time  immemorial,  the  wheat  plant  has  been  cul 
tivated  for  its  excellent  and  fine  grain. 

The  origin  of  wheat  is  not  positively  known.  Still, 
there  is  good  reason  for  the  belief,  that,  when  "  the 
Lord  God  made  every  plant  of  the  field  before  it  was 
in  the  earth"  (Gen.  ii.  5),  wheat  was  one  of  the  finest 
productions  of  His  hands.  And,  there  is  no  doubt,  that 
this  esculent  grain  constituted  a  good  proportion  of  the 
best  food  of  the  antediluvians. 

The  first  allusion  to  wheat  in  sacred  history  is  in 
Gen.  xxx.  14,  during  the  patriarchal  age,  by  which  we 
may  infer  that  wheat  was  raised  by  the  servants  of 
Jacob.  And,  when  the  Lord  sent  the  destructive  plague 
of  hail  on  the  land  of  the  ancient  Egyptians,  Moses  has 
told  us,  Ex.  ix.  32,  that  "  the  wheat  and  the  rye  were 
not  smitten."  In  Numbers  xviii.  12,  wheat  is  alluded 
to  among  the  offerings  of  the  Israelites.  In  the  days 
of  the  prophet  Samuel,  and  during  the  reign  of  David 


18  THE    WHEAT    CULTURTST. 

and  Solomon,  this  grain  is  alluded  to  in  such,  a  manner 
as  to  convey  the  idea  that  wheat  was  a  kind  of  grain  of 
great  value  and  excellence.  See  Ps.  cxlvii.  14,  where 
"  the  finest  of  the  wheat "  is  spoken  of  as  one  of  the 
crowning  blessings  which  the  God  of  Israel  lavished  on 
his  obedient  people.  And  when  Solomon  dipped  his 
graphic  pen  to  portray  the  excellent  graces  of  the 
Church,  nothing  would  convey  a  more  impressive  and 
exalted  idea  of  the  beauty  which  he  would  describe  than 
"  a  heap  of  wheat  set  about  with  lilies."  (Cant.  vii.  2.) 
Solomon  sent  wheat  to  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  when  he 
was  erecting  the  Temple.  And  in  numerous  other 
places  in  the  Bible,  from  Genesis  to  Revelations,  wheat 
is  alluded  to  in  a  manner  to  convey  the  idea  that  it  was 
the  finest  of  the  cereal  grains,  which  rendered  the  most 
excellent  food,  not  only  for  the  poor,  but  for  the  rich 
and  distinguished  characters  of  the  age. 

There  is  another  idea  concerning  wheat  worthy  of 
especial  notice,  which  is,  that  the  wheat  plant  flourishes 
in  proportion  to  the  intelligence  and  condition  of  the 
agriculture  of  the  people.  This  is  especially  true  as  to 
the  condition  of  agriculture.  If  the  agriculture  of  a 
nation  is  in  a  low  state,  but  little  or  no  good  wheat  will 
be  found  there.  On  the  contrary,  where  the  people  are 
industrious,  well  civilized,  and  their  agriculture  is  in  a 
good  condition,  in  most  latitudes,  good  wheat — either 
winter  or  spring  wheat — is,  or  may  be,  raised  with 
profit,  provided  the  climate  is  congenial  to  the  produc- 
tion of  this  cereal. 


WHEAT  AN  EMBLEM  OF  CIVILIZATION. 
After  alluding  to  the  wheat  plant  as  an  unequivo- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJRIST.  19 

cal  emblem  of  civilization,  enlightenment,  and  refine- 
ment,  J.  H.  Klippart,  in  his  "Wheat  Plant,"  writes 
that: 

"As  truly  as  did  flocks  of  sheep  in  the  primitive 
ages  lead  the  shepherds  to  the  threshold  of  that  truly 
magnificent  science,  Astronomy,  just  so  certainly  did 
the  wheat  plant  in  yet  earlier  ages  induce  man  to  forget 
his  savagism,  abandon  his  nomadic  life,  to  invent  and 
cultivate  peaceful  arts,  and  lead  a  rural  and  peace- 
ful life.  There  is  not  on  the  vast  expanse  of  the 
face  of  the  globe  a  savage,  barbarous,  or  semi-civilized 
nation  that  cultivates  the  wheat  plant.  In  the  settle- 
ment of  ~New  England,  the  Indians  called  the  plantain 
the  '  Englishman's  foot ;'  and  in  the  infancy  of  society 
wheat  may  have  been  similarly  regarded  as  springing 
from  the  footsteps  of  the  Persians  or  Egyptians. 

"  The  ancients,  who  had  burst  the  bonds  of  savag- 
ism, and  scarcely  more  than  escaped  from  the  confines 
of  barbarism,  and  through  the  magic  influence  of  the 
fruit  of  the  wheat  stalk,  barely  reached  the  threshold  of 
civilization,  retained  a  grateful  memory  of  the  plant, 
which  was  the  prime  cause  of  their  amelioration.  They 
erected  temples  and  instituted  an  appropriate  rite  for 
the  worship  of  the  goddess  Ceres,  who  was  by  them 
regarded,  not  only  as  the  patron  goddess  of  the  crops, 
but  the  propitiator  of  sound  morals,  and  the  promoter 
of  peace  and  peaceful  avocations. 

"  In  their  traditions  of  the  wars  of  the  giants,  the 
ancient  Germans  have  a  legend,  the  purport  of  which 
is,  that  Thor,  the  agriculturist,  obtained  possession  of 
the  soil  from  Winter,  who  had  depressed,  brutalized, 
scattered,  and  destroyed  the  inhabitants  with  his  chill- 
ing blasts  and  storms  of  sleet  and  snow,  and  drenching 


20  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

showers  of  rain,  upon  condition  that  he  would  intro- 
duce harmony,  peace,  and  fellowship  into  social  life  by 
the  culture  of  straw-producing  plants. 

"  The  culture  of  the  wheat-bearing  plant  compelled 
the  cultivator  to  abandon  the  wild  or  nomadic  life  which 
it  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose  he  must  have  led  ;  and 
the  time  which  otherwise  would  have  been  spent  in 
roaming  through  the  forests,  was  now  spent  in  contriv- 
ing indispensable  implements.  First  and  prominent 
among  these  were  the  plough  and  harrow — rude  beyond 
question  in  mechanical  structure,  and  uncouth  in  ap- 
pearance, yet  they  were  the  first  peaceful,  and  at  the 
same  time  utilitarian  products  of  civilization. 

"  Thus  has  the  culture  of  this  straw-growing  plant 
caused  savages  to  abandon  their  barbarous  customs — 
has  fixed  in  friendly  communion  many  nomadic  and 
rival  hordes — inaugurated  the  greatest  era  the  world 
ever  saw,  the  era  from  which  the  human  race  may  date 
its  incipient  civilization — the  era  of  labor.  The  continued 
culture  and  increase  of  this  plant  has  from  the  very 
commencement  called  into  action  all  the  resources  of 
civilized  nations.  After  the  invention  of  the  plough  and 
harrow,  man's  inventive  genius  was  tasked  to  produce 
a  reaping  hook  or  sickle ;  and  successively  during  the 
many  ages  of  the  historic  period  has  this  plant  called 
into  existence  the  scythe,  the  grain  cradle,  winnowing 
machine,  sowing  machine,  thrashing  machine,  and 
within  our  own  day  and  generation,  the  reaping  ma- 
chine. The  prolificacy  of  this  plant  has  brought  into 
existence  the  cart  and  the  wagon  in  the  earlier  ages  of 
society,  but  in  more  recent  ones  it  has  demanded  the 
construction  of  turnpikes  and  macadamized  roads 
through  the  pathless  wilderness ;  that  canals  be  dug  to 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  21 

unite  the  waters  which  flow  to  the  northward  with  those 
which  flow  to  the  equator ;  that  boats  be  constructed, 
and  ships  with  wide-spreading  canvas  were  found  to  be 
indispensable ;  and  lastly,  the  steamboat,  steamship, 
railroad,  and  steam  flouring-mill  were  as  loudly  and 
as  earnestly  demanded  in  our  day  as  was  the  rude  plough 
in  the  first  days  of  civilization. 

"  There  is  not  in  the  entire  catalogue  of  plants  an- 
other one  which  has  been  as  instrumental  in  the  devel- 
opment of  mechanical  ingenuity,  and  the  intellectual 
faculties,  as  has  been,  and  is,  the  wheat  plant.  It  is 
true  that  fibre-producing  plants,  and  prominently  among 
these  flax  and  cotton,  have  exercised  considerable  influ- 
ence in  the  development  of  mechanical  inventions ;  but 
upon  strict  examination  it  will  be  found  that  very  many 
of  the  principles  of  mechanical  structures  and  combi- 
nations of  powers  had  already  been  called  into  requisi- 
tion by  the  fibre  produced  by  the  sheep,  and  the  thread 
produced  by  the  silk-worm. 

"  In  countries  where  the  agricultural  art,  or  rather 
the  culture  of  the  wheat  plant,  has  fallen  into  disuse, 
there  has  civilization  also  retrograded ;  and  were  it 
not  for  commerce  with  enlightened  and  refined  nations, 
several  countries  would  speedily  relapse  into  all  the  hor- 
rors of  absolute  barbarism.  Were  the  wheat  plant 
6  blotted  out  of  existence,'  society  would  of  necessity 
revert  to  its  original  state.  In  vain  would  the  miner 
delve  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  to  bring  forth  the  dark 
and  heavy  ore  to  make  iron.  No  iron  would  be  wrought 
because  there  would  be  no  use  for  ploughs,  and  conse- 
quently, no  use  for  the  thousand  mechanical  contriv- 
ances for  sowing,  harvesting,  thrashing,  cleaning,  trans- 
porting, and  grinding  wheat.  Is  it  not  astonishing  to 


22  THE    WHEAT   CIJLTUEIST. 

reflect  on  the  number  of  persons  engaged  in  the  culture 
of  the  plant,  the  number  engaged  in  constructing  and 
improving  machinery  to  gather  and  prepare  the  seed, 
the  number  engaged  in  transporting  the  grain  from 
place  to  place,  as  well  as  the  number  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  flour,  and  the  preparation  of  bread. 
Truly  is  not  the  wheat  the  plant,  the  corner-stone  of 
civilization,  and  would  not  the  destruction  of  it  over- 
whelm society  with  darkness  blacker  than  the  storm- 
cloud  at  midnight !  Does  the  extreme  cold  of  winter 
destroy  the  germ  of  the  stalk  in  the  plant  ?  have  the 
rains  been  too  frequent  and  too  abundant,  or  has  a 
pitiless  and  heartless  hail-storm  levelled  it  to  the  earth  ? 
Then  how  many  are  the  thousands  to  whom  is  brought 
suffering  and  sorrow  and  hunger  ! 

"  While  the  hands  of  industry  are  busily  employed  in 
securing  the  product  yielded  by  the  wheat  plant,  every 
one  is  eagerly  and  earnestly  shaping  his  demand  for  a 
pro  rata  of  the  results.  This  one  has  closeted  himself, 
and  buried  himself  in  the  study  of  law ;  that  one  has 
seized  the  pencil  or  the  chisel ;  another  has  taken  to  the 
jack-plane ;  a  fourth  has  mounted  the  fearful  locomo- 
tive ;  a  fifth  has  intrusted  himself  to  the  treacherous 
waves  of  the  briny  deep ;  a  sixth  has  picked  up  the 
sledge,  whose  uses  were  taught  to  mankind  by  Yulcan, 
and  from  sun  to  sun  strikes  the  patient  anvil ;  all,  all 
having  a  single  and  identical  object  in  view,  namely, 
that  of  exchanging  the  fruits  of  their  labors  for  the 
fruits  of  the  wheat  plant.  Thus  is  the  action  of  society 
kept  in  a  continual  round  of  exchange,  like  a  bark  on  a 
sluggish  eddy,  forever  departing  from  the  shore  only  to 
be  forever  arriving  at  it,  and  forever  arriving  only  to  be 
forever  departing.  The  pearl-fisher  dives  fearlessly  into 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  23 

the  fathomless  deeps  of  the  ocean  for  the  animal  prod- 
uct found  among  the  rocky  polyp-trees ;  the  miner 
excavates  the  subterranean  shaft  for  gold;  the  artists 
produce  articles  of  the  most  exquisite  workmanship, 
and  like  a  beast  of  burden,  the  porter  tenders  the  services 
of  his  physical  strength  in  order  to  obtain  a  proportion 
of  the  products  of  the  wheat  plant.  All  that  we  see  or 
hear,  all  that  is  done,  all  that  is  spoken,  written,  or 
thought,  is  performed  directly  or  indirectly  on  account 
of  the  fruit  of  that  plant,  which  introduced,  developed, 
and  to-day  maintains  civilization." 

OLD  GREVECOSUR'S  SPEECH. 

When  the  aborigines  of  our  country  saw  the  refine- 
ment of  character,  the  spirit  of  philanthropy,  which 
possessed  the  hearts  of  their  white  neighbors,  their  ob- 
serving chieftain,  Crevecoeur,  of  the  now  extinct  tribe 
of  the  JVIississais,  is  said  to  have  addressed  his  people  in 
the  following  pathetic  remarks : 

"  Do  you  not  see  the  whites  living  upon  seeds,  while 
we  eat  flesh?  That  flesh  requires  more  than  thirty 
moons  to  grow  up,  and  is  then  often  scarce.  Each 
of  the  wonderful  seeds  they  sow  in  the  earth  returns 
them  an  hundred  fold.  The  flesh  on  which  we  subsist 
has  four  legs  to  escape  from  us,  while  we  have  but  two 
to  pursue  and  capture  it.  The  grain  remains  where  the 
white  men  sow  it,  and  growls.  With  them  winter  is  a 
period  of  rest ;  while  with  us,  it  is  the  time  of  laborious 
hunting.  For  these  reasons  they  have  so  many  chil- 
dren, and  live  longer  than  we  do.  I  say,  therefore,  unto 
every  one  that  will  hear  me,  that  before  the  cedars  of 
our  village  shall  have  died  down  with  age,  and  the 


24  THE   WHEAT   CULTURI8T. 

maple  trees  of  the  valley  shall  have  ceased  to  give  us 
sugar,  the  race  of  the  little  corn  (wheat)  sowers  will 
have  exterminated  the  race  of  the  flesh-eaters,  provided 
their  huntsmen  do  not  resolve  to  become  sowers." 


BOTANICAL   DESCRIPTION  OF  WHEAT. 

Although  this  portion  of  my  treatise  on  wheat  may  be 
quite  uninteresting  to  men  who  are  solely  practical,  still 
I  think  every  ambitious  farmer  will  be  interested  in  the 
botanical  description  of  a  plant  so  eminently  valuable 
as  wheat.  Boys  in  particular,  I  think,  will  be  ambitious 
to  learn  the  names  of  the  various  parts  of  the  growing 
plant. 

That  part  of  the  wheat  plant  which  farmers  colloqui- 
ally call  the  head  or  ear,  is  termed,  botanically,  a  spi&e, 
as  14,  in  the  accompanying  illustration.  A  subdivision 
of  a  spike,  or  ear,  is  called  a  spikelet.  In  some  sections 
of  the  country,  a  spikelet  is  better  understood  if  it  is 
spoken  of  as  a  breast  of  wheat.  At  A,  in  the  illustra- 
tion, a  three  flowered  spikelet  is  represented.  B  B  are 
the  beards  or  awns.  The  ear  14  is  called  beardless,  awn- 
less,  or  bald  wheat.  At  the  right  hand,  1  represents  the 
rachis,  or  the  centre  of  the  ear,  as  it  appears  after  the 
grain  and  chaif  are  removed,  either  by  thrashing, 
or  rubbing  the  ears  in  the  hands.  The  spikelets  are 
placed  on  alternate  sides  of  the  rachis,  so  that  the  edges 
of  the  florets,  5,  5,  10,  in  the  spikelet,  A,  of  the  illus- 
tration, lie  toward  each  other.  At  4,  the  glumes  are 
represented.  At  13,  a  kernel  of  grain  is  shown.  B,  2. 
represents  a  kernel  of  wheat  enclosed  in  the  chaff;  or 
such  portions  are  spoken  of  as  "  white  caps" 

Certain  kinds  of  wheat  are  remarkable  for  white  caps, 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


25 


Previous  to  the  invention  of  the  thrashing-machines, 
when  the  wheat  was  thrashed  with  flails,  or  trod  out 
with  horses,  white  caps  were  a  serious  annoyance,  when 


FIG.  2.— Different  parts  of  a  wheat  head. 

grain  was  being  prepared  for  market.     But  thrashing- 
machines  remove  the  inner  chaif,  or  the  white  caps.     At 

2 


26  THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

4,  5,  6,  7  an  awned  glume  and  kernel  is  represented, 
with  the  grain  laid  bare.  Before  thrashing-machines 
were  invented,  farmers  considered  it  an  important  char- 
acteristic of  wheat  to  thrash  easily,  and  be  free  from 
white  caps.  The  old  bald  wheat,  and  the  Hutchinson 
wheat  always  thrashed  easily.  But  the  Whiteflint 
variety  furnished  white  caps  in  untold  numbers.  But 
now  some  wheat-growers  consider  the  Whiteflint  variety 
the  most  desirable,  as  the  kernels  are  enveloped  closely 
in  the  inner  chaff;  consequent!}^  the  wheat  midge  is  not 
so  apt  to  injure  the  grain  as  if  the  chaif  were  more 
open. 

How  KERNELS  OF  WHEAT  GERMINATE. 

"Lo !  on  each  seed,  within  its  slender  rind, 
Life's  golden  threads  in  endless  circles  wind  ; 
Maze  within  maze  the  lucid  webs  are  rolled, 
And  as  they  burst,  the  living  flames  unfold  : 
Grain  within  grain,  successive  harvests  dwell, 
And  boundless  forests  slumber  in  a  shell.1' 

The  germination  of  a  kernel  of  grain,  the  manner  of 
the  growth  of  the  roots  of  the  young  plant  and  their 
ramifications  through  the  soil,  the  unfolding  of  plumule, 
or  stem,  and  the  full  and  perfect  development  of  the 
ear  and  the  full  corn  in  the  ear,  all  considered  collec- 
tively, constitute  a  wonderful  mystery  !  When  we  con- 
sider what  a  very  minute  and  tender  thing  the  germ  of  . 
a  kernel  of  wheat  is  ;  how  easily  a  score  of  enemies  may 
destroy  it,  or  how  quickly  some  adverse  influence  of 
cold  or  heat,  or  of  both  operating  alternately,  may  de- 
stroy the  vitality  of  the  germ,  it  is  really  a  wonder 
that  farmers  are  ever  able  to  produce  a  single  bushel  of 
wheat. 

The  accompanying  illustration  represents  a  kernel  of 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


Fig.   8. — A   kernel     of 
wheat  magnified. 


wheat  witli  the  groove  downwar  1.  The  part  marked 
a  represents  the  main  part  of  the  kernel  which  supplies 
nourishment  to  the  growing  plant. 
By  cutting  a  kernel  of  grain  into  thin 
slices  with  a  sharp  knife,  the  germ  or 
embryo  may  be  seen  at  e.  At  5  the 
plumule,  or  stem,  appears  ;  and  c  rep- 
resents the  radicle,  while  h  and  d 
show  the  first  and  second  skin  of  the 
kernel.  The  true  roots  issue  at  the 
points  of  the  kernel  represented  at 
f  and  g.  J.  H.  Klippart  states  in  his 
"  Wheat  Plant,"  that  as  soon  as  moist- 
ure has  found  its  way  through  the 
canals  in  the  husks  or  skins,  &,  a,  &,  c, 
and  d,  so  as  to  be  in  contact  with  the 
starch  cells,  e,  the  moisture  penetrates  the  cell-walls 
of  the  seed  and  its  embryo,  and  there  forms  a  strong 
solution.  The  seed  has  now  the  power  of  decompos- 
ing water.  The  oxygen  in  the  water  combines  with 
some  of  the  carbon  of  the  seed,  when  the  product  is  ex- 
pelled as  carbonic  acid.  The  presence  of  moisture  and 
oxygen  induces  putrefaction  of  a  portion  of  the  albu- 
minous matter  in  the  cells,  which  becomes  an  actual  fer- 
ment, exhaling  carbonic  acid  gas,  generating  heat,  and 
converting  the  insoluble  starch  which  is  stored  up  in  the 
kernel  into  soluble  sugar. 

The  starchy  substances  deposited  within  the  seed  were 
undoubtedly  designed  to  furnish  food  to  the  young  plant 
until  the  roots  and  leaves  have  attained  sufficient  size  to 
derive  nourishment  from  the  soil  and  the  atmosphere. 
In  wheat,  starch  is  the  most  important  ingredient  of 
plant  food. 


28  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

The  germination  of  a  kernel  of  wheat  is  further  illus- 
trated by  the  figure  herewith  given,  which  represents 
a  grain  of  wheat  highly  magnified.  B  represents  the 
body  of  the  kernel,  composed  of  starch  and  gluten.  A 
is  the  cellular  tissue,  the  original  covering  of  the  embryo 
blade.  C  is  the  main  root ;  and  D  shows  the  hard  cellular 
matter  which  constitutes  the  base  of  growth  of  the  root 
and  stem.  E,  E,  E  are  free  cones  of  cells  at  the 
points  of  roots.  F,  F  are  lateral  roots,  a  is  the  future 
stalk  or  plumule,  d  is  the  course  of  bundle  of  dotted 
fibre.  0,  0,  e  are  suckers  ;  and/",  i  represent  the  course 
of  spiral  fibre.  A,  A,  h  show  the.  cellular  tissue,  or 
covering  of  the  blade. 


SPONGIOLES. 

I  have  met  with  certain  botanists  who  sneer  at  the 
idea  of  there  being  spongioles  at  the  ends  of  the  roots 
of  wheat.  Yet,  all  the  most  reliable  authors  of  trea- 
tises on  botanical  subjects  speak  of  spongioles.  And  if 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


29 


a  person  will  examine  the  ends  of  roots  of  the  wheat 
plant,  with  a  microscope,  he  will  find  a  free  cone,  or 
spongiole,  at  the  ends  of  the  roots  E,  E,  Fig.  4 ;  and 
the  same  thing,  highly  magnified,  is  represented  at 
Fig.  5.  The  part  represented  by  the  letter  d  is  the 
root;  and  <?,  b  is  the  lozenge-shaped  cone.  This  free 
capsule  envelops  the  inner  apex  of  the  growing  root ; 
but  there  is  a  space  free  from  cells  between  the  base  of 
the  cone  and  the  apex  of  the  root  which  the  cone  covers. 
Beneath  this  cellulated  cone,  or  capsule,  the  growth  of 
the  roots  takes  place,  by  the  development  of  cells  at  the 


FIG.  5. — Spongiole  highly  magnified. 


extremity  of  the  inner  apex  of  the  roots.  Soon  after 
the  main  roots  are  formed,  suckers,  or  rootlets,  e,  e,  0, 
Fig.  4,  are  put  forth,  on  the  ends  of  which  are  minute 


30 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 


capsules,  similar  to  the  magnified  spongiole  represented 
by  Fig.  5. 

The  grand  practical  point  for  farmers  to  consider  is 
this :  the  capsules  at  the  ends  of  the  roots  are  thrust 
through  the  soil  like  the  point  of  a  plough ;  and  the  roots 
are  formed  behind  them.  This  teaches  us  the  eminent 
importance  of  assisting  nature,  by  preparing  a  mellow 
seed-bed,  through  which  the  roots  may  spread  with  little 
difficulty. 

THE  STEM,  OR  PLUMULE. 

The  illustration  herewith  given  represents  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  stem  of  wheat,  highly  magnified,  as  the 
end  appears  when  the  wheat  is  coming  up.  Although 
this  illustration  resembles  a  stack  of  hay  or  straw,  it 
exhibits  the  free  capsule  of  cells  and  epidermic  plasm? 
which  are  so  nearly  identical  with  those  of  the  roots  of 
the  same  growing  wheat  plant. 

As  soon  as  the  plumule 
has  forced  its  way  through 
the  soil,  and  appeared 
above  the  surface  of  the 
ground  an  inch  or  more 
— J.  H.  Klippart  in  his 
Wheat  Plant  states — that 
the  stem  gives  birth  to  the 
first  true  leaves,  as  seen 
in  Fig.  8  on  a  succeeding 
page,  while  the  central  bud 
is  destined  to  become  the 
future  stalk.  There  can  be 
FIG.  e.-End  of  the  plumule.  no  reasonable  doubt  that 

the  cellular  envelop,  A,  B,  performs  a  similar  function 


THE   WHEAT   CIJLTURIST.  31 

to  the  capsules  of  the  roots,  Fig.  4.  In  other  words, 
the  material  in  the  envelop  exerts  a  chemical  influence 
on  the  soil  which  lies  immediately  above  it,  rendering 
the  earth  more  yielding  and  pliable,  so  much  so  that 
the  tender  plumule  can  come  up  into  the  sunlight  and 
air  with  little  difficulty. 

The  plumule  is  of  great  importance  to  the  existence 
of  the  wheat  plant.  By  its  existence  we  may  readily 
demonstrate  how  dependent  each  organ  of  a  plant  is  on 
the  other,  and  how  harmoniously  every  part  performs 
its  destined  function  in  sublime  silence.  If  the  heart, 
or  plumule,  of  the  young  wheat  plant  be  pulled  out 
from  between  the  leaves,  it  will  riot  be  replaced  by  a 
new  one.  Yet,  if  the  kernel  or  plant  be  not  too  much 
exhausted  by  a  luxuriant  growth,  a  new  plumule  will 
appear  from  the  grain,  or  main  root,  directly  below  the 
surface  of  the  soil. 

The  first  effort  of  the  growing  plant  toward  more 
perfect  development  is  to  form  a  joint,  or  knot,  im- 
mediately beneath  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  another 
a  little  above  the  surface.  The  upper  one  of  these 
joints  is  the  true  commencement  of  the  stalk.  The 
joint  beneath  the  surface  marks  the  place  from  whence 
the  coronal  roots  emanate,  as  has  been  already  stated  on 
a  preceding  page.  These  coronal  roots  are  the  chief 
laboratory  for  the  preparation  and  distribution  of  the 
future  nourishment  of  the  growing  plants. 

THE  ACTION  OF  HOOTS  AND  SPONGIOLES. 

"  There  is  no  subject  connected  with  vegetable  physi- 
ology which  more  nearly  concerns  the  practical  cultivator, 
as  well  as  the  man  of  science,  than  the  precise  nature 


32  THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

of  the  action  of  roots  /  for  on  them,  more  than  on  any 
other  organ  of  a  plant,  depends  the  health  of  crops  of 
every  kind,  without  one  single  exception.  That  the 
subject  has  not  received  more  attention  is  one  of  the 
curiosities  of  science.  It  is  true  there  are  many  state- 
ments of  variable  character  and  value ;  yet  even  more 
speculations  respecting  the  manner  in  which  roots  be- 
have— theories  of  excretion — assertions  regarding  the 
chemical  action  roots  are  said  to  exercise  on  dead  mat- 
ter ;  but  the  quiet  practical  man  who  reads  'these  be- 
yond the  atmosphere  of  science,  is  far  from  being 
satisfied  with  what  he  finds  in  books. 

"  The  question  as  to  whether  the  roots  of  plants  are 
or  not  endowed  with  any  special  excretory  functions  is 
one  which  has  occupied  the  attention  of  many  natural- 
ists, as  being  one  of  considerable  importance,  as  well  to 
the  vegetable  physiologist  as  to  the  agriculturist,  in  its 
application  to  the  principles  of  alternation  of  crops. 
.ISTo  absolute  conclusion  has  as  yet  been  come  to,  the 
affirmative  as  well  as  the  negative  having  been  respec- 
tively maintained,  either  from  general  induction,  or  more 
rarely  from  direct  observation  and  experiment.  The 
opinion,  however,  that  no  such  excretions  take  place,  has 
been  the  most  generally  adopted. 

"  The  impossibility  of  closely  following  under  the 
microscope,  in  their  natural  circumstances,  vegetable 
phenomena  wliich  take  place  under  ground,  and  conse- 
quently in  the  dark,  and  in  an  opaque  medium,  is  ob- 
vious. As  a  nearest  approach  to  it,  Gasparrini  has 
caused  the  seeds  of  various  plants  to  germinate  under 
glass,  in  water,  or  in  well-washed  sand,  in  the  dark  or 
under  diffused  light,  and  thus  examined  their  roots  with- 
out disturbance  in  various  stages  and  at  various  seasons. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUJKIST.  33 

He  also  raised  plants  for  the  purpose  in  vases  of  sand 
well  pulverized  and  washed,  so  as  to  be  able  to  free  the 
roots  for  examination,  at  a  more  advanced  period  with 
the  least  possible  injury.  His  numerous  experiments 
appear  to  have  been  conducted  with  the  most  scrupu- 
lous care,  for  which,  moreover,  his  well-known  success 
in  analogous  researches  offers  a  sufficient  guarantee. 

"  It  has  long  been  known  that  roots  absorb  the  nutri- 
ment necessary  for  the  plant,  by  means  of  the  young 
fibres  which  form  the  ultimate  ramifications  of  the  roots ; 
that  these  fibres  are  terminated  by  a  short  portion  of  a 
loose  and  soft  texture  called  by  botanists  the  spongiole, 
Fig.  5 ;  that  this  spongiole  is  the  point  of  growth  of  the 
fibre,  usually  bearing  at  its  extremity  a  kind  of  cap  of 
a  harder  and  drier  texture,  called  the  pileorhiza,  «,  Fig. 
5,  which  is  pushed  forward  by  the  fibre  as  it  grows ; 
and  that,  immediately  below  the  spongiole,  the  fibre  is 
usually  more  or  less  invested  with  a  short  down  consist- 
ing of  small  spreading  hairs.  Gasparrini  shows  that 
the  spongiole  itself  seldom  takes  any  part  in  the  absorp- 
tion of  the  nutriment  for  the  plant,  but  is  nothing  more 
than  the  young  as  yet  imperfect  part  of  the  fibre,  con- 
sisting of  cellular  tissue  in  the  course  of  formation  ;  that 
the  pileorhiza  is  a  portion  of  the  epidermis  or  covering 
of  the  fibre,  which,  after  a  period  of  comparative  rest, 
is  torn  from  the  remainder  of  the  epidermis  and  pushed 
forward  by  the  growth  of  the  spongiole  under  it,  and  is 
ultimately  cast  off,  to  be  reproduced  by  similar  causes 
the  following  season  ;  and  that  in  the  great  majority  of 
vascular  plants  the  nutriment  is  either  entirely  or  chiefly 
absorbed  by  the  root  hairs  formed  on  the  young  fibres 
at  the  base  of  the  spongiole,  and  which  he  on  that  ac- 
count denominates  suckers. 

2* 


34:  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKI6T. 

"  Each  of  these  root  hairs  or  suckers  consists  of  a  sub- 
cuticular  cellule  of  the  epidermis,  more  or  less  length- 
ened out  into  a  cylindrical  hair-like  form.  It  is  at  first 
uniformly  smooth  and  straight,  but  at  a  later  period 
either  the  extremity  or  the  upper  portion  or  sometimes 
nearly  the  whole  length  becomes  variously  deformed  by 
club-shaped  dilations,  or  irregular  ramifications.  The 
length  of  the  suckers,  and  the  shapes  of  these  irregu- 
larities, are  often  more  or  less  affected  by  the  obstacles 
they  meet  with  in  the  earth,  but  not  entirely  so ;  for 
when  grown  in  water  perfectly  free  from  an  impediment 
there  is  very  great  irregularity  in  both  respects.  In- 
ternally, however  much  ramified,  the  cell  remains  entire 
with  one  continuous  cavity  from  the  base  to  the  extrem- 
ity of  all  its  branches.  Its  walls  also  consist  of  a  single 
membrane,  no  chemical  reagent  having  disclosed  any 
distinction  between  the  walls  of  the  cell  and  an  external 
cuticle. 

"  These  suckers  appear  to  absorb  the  alimentary  juices 
by  endosmose  over  their  whole  surface.  Like  leaves  on 
the  young  aerial  shoots,  they  are  formed  on  the  young 
shoots  of  the  roots ;  like  leaves  also  they  die  and  disap- 
pear after  a  longer  or  shorter  season,  leaving  the  old 
roots  entirely  without  them. 

"  When  fully  formed,  and  before  they  decay,  these 
suckers  become  more  or  less  covered  in  their  irregular 
branching  portion  (rarely  in  their  basal  cylindrical  part), 
with  viscous  papillae  or  adhesive  globules,  forming  gran- 
ular masses,  to  which  the  surrounding  earthy  particles 
strongly  adhere.  Are  these  viscous  masses  excretions 
from  the  roots,  or  are  they  the  residue  of  substances 
contained  in  the  earth  and  chemically  decomposed  by 
the  roots  in  the  absorption  of  such  elements  only  as 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  35 

might  be  suited  for  the  nutriment  of  the  plant  ?  It  ia 
to  the  solution  of  this  question  that  Gasparrini's  experi 
ments  are  chiefly  directed,  and  he  concludes  that  they 
are  entirely  exuded  from  the  suckers. 

"  In  the  first  place  he  adduces  several  experiments  in 
refutation  of  those  who  believe  that  the  tender  fibres  of 
roots  possess  some  chemically  dissolvent  properties,  and 
that  it  is  by  such  means  that  they  are  enabled  to  pene- 
trate into  masses  of  hard  substances,  whether  inorganic 
or  organic,  such  as  the  woody  tissue  of  living  plants. 
In  the  case  of  the  common  mistletoe  growing  on  a  pear 
tree,  he  followed  the  radical  fibres  of  the  parasite  from 
the  woody  tissue  through  the  alburnum  and  the  par- 
enchyma of  the  bark  sometimes  to  the  length  of  half 
an  inch.  They  could  be  clearly  traced  their  whole 
length,  although  forming  an  intimate  cohesion  with  the 
tissue  of  the  matrix,  except  the  spongiole  at  the  extrem- 
ity, which  was  always  free ;  but  he  never  saw  the  slight- 
est indication  of  any  morbid  alteration  in  the  tissue 
thus  penetrated. 

"  In  the  case  of  the  young  plants  of  wheat,  rye,  bar- 
ley, rape-seed,  arid  others  which  had  been  caused  to 
germinate  under  glass,  the  process  of  excretion  was 
readily  observed.  Previous  to  the  formation  of  the  Ad- 
hesive globules  on  the  surface,  the  suckers  were  full  of 
a  fluid  in  which  floated  a  granular  substance  showing 
clearly  a  circulation  in  two  currents,  the  one  ascending, 
the  other,  descending ;  after  a  time  the  suckers  opened 
at  the  extremity  and  discharged  the  greater  part  of  the 
granular  substance  they  contained,  the  discharge  being 
preceded  by  a  peculiar  motion  analogous  to  that  of 
pollen  grains  before  they  burst.  The  contact  of  a  drop 
of  warm  water  accelerated  the  discharge;  and  if  the 


36  THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

fibre  was  cut  through  at  its  base,  the  motion  of  the 
sucker  was  sudden  and  convulsive,  and  the  contents  dis- 
charged with  considerable  elasticity. 

"  In  the  roots  grown  naturally  within  the  earth,  the 
circulation  of  the  fluid  contents  of  the  suckers,  when 
observed,  was  slow  and  feeble.  Those  which  yet  re- 
tained the  granular  substance  withinside,  were  as  yet 
free  from  the  external  papillae,  while  those  covered  with 
the  viscous  masses  outside,  were  nearly  empty  internally. 
But  in  these  cases  the  excretion  appeared  but  rarely  to 
have  been  affected  by  the  bursting  of  the  extremity,  but 
usually  by  exudation,  through  the  membrane  forming 
the  walls  of  the  cavity,  and  that  in  a  manner  which 
could  scarcely  be  explained  by  endosmose  alone,  but  by 
some  other  force  unknown  to  us,  and  which  must  be 
included  in  the  mysteries  of  vital  action. 

"  With  regard  to  the  effects  produced  by  these  exuda- 
tions on  the  capabilities  of  the  soil  for  the  nutriment  of 
other  plants  at  the  same  time,  or  in  succession,  there  is 
nothing  to  show  that  they  possess  any  acid,  caustic,  or 
saline  properties  likely  to  act  prejudicially  on  other 
roots.  Whether  the  matter  be  compared  to  the  fecal 
excretions  or  to  the  residue  left  by  insensible  perspira- 
tion on  the  skin  of  animals,  it'  can  well  be  imagined 
that  it  cannot  serve  for  nutriment  if  reabsorbed  by  the 
same  plants,  nor  probably  if  absorbed  by  others  until 
decomposed ;  but  owing  to  its  extreme  tenuity  the  decom- 
position takes  place  very  readily ;  and  as  recent  detritus 
of  vegetable  matter,  its  quantity  is  very  small  in  com- 
parison to  that  of  the  decayed  sucker  and  pileorhizas, 
and  of  the  numerous  fibres  which  perish  from  natural 
or  accidental  causes.  If  in  the  relative  effect  of  differ- 
ent plants  on  the  impoverishment  of  the  soil,  the  radical 


THE   WHEAT   CJJLTURIST.  37 

excretions  have  any  effect,  it  can  only  be  caused  by  the 
difference  in  the  quality  left  in  the  soil  by  different  spe- 
cies. Some  of  the  plants  known  to  exhaust  the  soil  in 
the  highest  degree,  such  as  flax  and  box,  have  few  or 
no  suckers  to  their  roots  and  leave  scarce  any  exuda- 
tions. Eye  and  many  other  grasses  deposit  very  little 
in  comparison  with  crucifers  and  cichoraceae.  Hemp, 
on  the  other  hand,  which  is  a  great  exhauster,  exudes 
a  great  deal  by  the  roots ;  so  do  wheat  and  barley,  but 
the  exhausting  effects  of  these  plants  may  be  traced  to 
other  causes.  Thus,  then,  although  from  these  experi- 
ments the  fact  of  absorption  and  excretion  from  the 
surface  of  organs  of  temporary  duration  on  the  young 
shoots  of  roots  is  clearly  demonstrated,  we  do  not  pos- 
sess any  data  sufficient  to  affirm  that  the  matter  ex- 
creted produces  any  effect  whatever  on  the  capability 
of  the  soil  to  supply  nutriment  to  other  plants  grown 
in  it. 

"  One  of  the  experiments  made  by  Gasparrini  is  very 
instructive  as  to  the  noxious  effects  of  vegetable  manures 
in  those  first  stages  of  decomposition  which  are  so  fa- 
vorable to  the  development  of  moulds.  In  the  month  of 
January  he  sowed  seeds  of  Triticum  spelta,  or  as  it  is 
more  commonly  called  Spelts,  in  a  number  of  small 
garden-pots  filled  with  well-washed  Yesuvian  sand.  In 
one  pot  he  placed  a  piece  of  young  dead  wood  of  Ailan- 
thus  glandulosus,  in  another  a  piece  of  bread,  in  another 
a  portion  of  a  green  potato,  in  a  fourth  a  portion  of  a 
radish  root,  in  a  fifth  some  parings  of  kid's  hoofs  and 
bits  of  nutshells,  in  the  sixth  nothing,  for  the  sake  ot 
comparison.  The  pots  were  all  waterei  with  common 
drinking-water,  exposed  by  day  to  diffused  light,  and  in 
clear  days  for  a  few  hours  to  the  direct  light  of  the  sun, 


38  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

and  placed  under  cover  by  night.  At  the  end  of  a 
month  each  pot  contained  three  plants,  all,  even  those 
in  the  pot  without  any  organic  substance,  equally 
healthy  and  luxuriant,  about  a  span  high,  and  with  two 
leaves  each. 

"  In  the  pot  in  which  was  the  piece  of  bread,  the 
roots  of  the  spelt  were  much  branched,  the  fibres  almost 
all  turned  toward  the  sides  of  the  pot ;  the  numerous 
suckers  wTere  as  yet  scarcely  modified,  or  had  only  slight 
gibbosities  toward  the  extremity ;  no  circulation  was 
perceptible ;  the  granular  mucous  substance  inside  was 
more  or  less  abundant,  and  many  were  sprinkled  ex- 
ternally toward  the  extremity  with  similar  mucous 
granular  masses.  A  few  fibres  approached  within  a 
certain  distance  of  the  bread,  but  none  had  penetrated 
within  it.  The  bread  had  become  a  soft,  putrid,  spongy 
mass,  covered  externally  with  white  branching  filaments 
spreading  from  it  into  the  sand  in  every  direction,  and 
already  in  many  places  having  nearly  reached  the  sides 
of  the  pot ;  and  here  and  there  a  commencement  of  fruc- 
tification seemed  to  show  that  these  filaments  belonged 
to  a  species  of  Sotrytis.  The  spongy  mass  of  the  bread 
was  also  almost  entirely  occupied  by  a  violet-colored 
mycelium  which  appeared  to  be  that  of  a  Penicillium  • 
the  filaments  of  this  mycelium  had  also  spread  from 
the  bread  in  various  directions.  Some  had  descended 
to  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  where  they  had  attacked  and 
produced  a  morbid  alteration  on  one  side  of  a  bit  of  the 
rhizome  of  Smilax  aspera,  which  had  been  placed  over 
the  hole  of  the  pot.  In  another  direction  the  mycelium 
of  this  Penicillium,  together  with  a  few  filaments  from 
the  Botrytis,  had  reached  a  fibre  of  the  Triticum*  and  had 
encircled  it  for  the  length  of  half  an  inch.  The  portion 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


39 


of  fibre  so  attacked  was  soft,  livid,  and  dead ;  and  the 
extremity  toward  the  spongiole  was  shrivelled  and  also 
dead.  In  the  livid  portion,  the  suckers  were  but  little 
developed  and  mixed  with  the  Botrytis  filaments ;  but  it 
was  evident  that  the  chief  injury  to  the  roots  was  pro- 
duced by  the  Penieillium,  whose  filaments  adhered 
firmly  to  their  epidermis.  In  none  of  the  other  pots 
had  the  roots  of  the  spelt  come  into  contact  with  the 
organic  substances  deposited  in  the  soil." 


BLOSSOMING  OF  WHEAT. 

In  order  to  enable  the  beginner  to  understand  more 
perfectly  the  character  of  the  wheat  plant,  I  shall  en- 
deavor to  explain  by  the  accom- 
panying illustration,  Fig.  7,  the 
blossom  of  the  growing  wheat. 
This  figure  represents  a  glume 
of  wheat  in  bloom,  magnified 
twelve  times,  a  represents  a  rup- 
tured anther,  which  is  that  part  of 
the  wheat  blossom  that  contains  the 
pollen  grains  in  which  is  found  the 
male  fecundating  fluid,  principle, 
or  property  of  the  blossom,  by 
which  two  different  kinds  of  grain 
growing  in  close  proximity  hyb- 
ridize, or  mix.  That  part  marked 
b  is  termed  the  filament,  or  thread, 
from  its  thread-like  form;  and  it 
connects  the  anther  to  the  ovule 
or  glume,  as  the  case  maybe.  The 
entire  organ,  a,  £,  is  called  a  stamen,  a,  c,  c  repre- 


FIG.  7. 


4:0  THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

sent  the  male  portion  of  the  wheat  blossom;  and  0,  e 
show  the  appearance  of  the  female  part  of  the  flower. 
d  represents  the  ovule,  or  unimpregnated  seed,  or  part  of 
the  growing  plant  which  is  destined  to  become  a  seed, 
or  the  new  grain.  The  pistils  are  always  in  the  centre 
of  the  flower,  and  are  attached  to,  or  surmounted  on 
the  ovule,  or  ovary,  to  which  they  serve  as  ducts  for  the 
pollen  grain,  when  brought  in  contact  with  each  other. 

It  may  be  perceived  by  the  illustration,  that  the 
anthers,  $,  have  their  exit  at  the  upper  portion  of  the 
glumes,  so  that  the  pollen  may  readily  descend,  by  its 
own  gravity,  directly  upon  the  pistils.  The  pistils  and 
the  pollen  grain  are  covered  with  an  exceedingly  thin 
coat  of  mucilaginous  matter,  which  causes  them  to  ad- 
here, when  they  are  brought  in  contact. 

The  grand  practical  consideration  which  I  have  had 
in  view  by  recording  these  suggestions  and  facts,  relative 
to  the  stamens,  pistils,  and  pollen  of  the  wheat  blossoms, 
is  to  give  practical  farmers*  a  fair  idea  of  the  process 
of  impregnation  and  hybridization.  Yery  few  farmers 
think  of  this  fact.  Thousands  of  practical  men  of  fair 
intelligence  know  nothing  about  the  means  by  which 
wheat  mixes,  and  how  varieties,  when  planted  in  a  close 
proximity,  mix  and  soon  run  out. 

HYBRIDIZING  WHEAT. 

I  pen  elaborate  suggestions  under  this  head  for  the 
purpose  of  impressing  upon  the  mind  of  every  farmer 
the  eminent  importance  of  striving  to  keep  his  varieties 
of  wheat  from  growing  in  close  proximity,  and  conse- 
quently from  hybridizing  ;  and  I  could  think  of  no  more 
effectual  way  to  accomplish  the  desired  end,  than  by 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  41 

introducing  to  my  readers  the  operation  of  hybridiza- 
tion. 

D.  J.  Brown,  in  one  of  the  Patent  Office  Reports, 
when  alluding  to  the  hybridizing  of  wheat,  states  that : 

"  The  terms  '  mule,'  '  hybrid,' '  half-breed,'  and  '  cross- 
breed '  are  vaguely  and  indiscriminately  used  by  many 
writers  ;  but  it  is  essential  to  accuracy,  that  more  precise 
distinctions  should  be  observed.  The  offspring  of  two 
animals  of  different  species  is  a  mule,  and  is  seldom  en- 
dowed with  the  procreative  power,  and  still  more  rarely 
with  a  long-continued  succession.  The  product  of  two 
plants  of  different  species  is  a  hybrid  /  and  although  it  is 
in  general  more  prosperous  than  the  mule  of  animals,  it 
is  still  destined  to  yield  at  length  to  the  beneficent  law 
of  Nature,  which  ordains  that  neither  among  animals 
nor  vegetables  shall  the  distinctions  of  species  be  oblit- 
erated. The  permanent  divisions  among  plants  of  the 
same  species,  often  called  c  varieties,'  are  properly  proles, 
or  races.  The  product  of  two  individuals  of  the  same 
species,  but  of  different  races,  is  a  variety,  as  is  every 
modification  of  this,  effected  by  cross-fecundation  with 
any  other  variety,  or  with  any  of  the  races  of  its  species. 

"  Great  advantages  have  been  found  to  proceed  from 
the  practice  of  cross-fecundation,  in  the  extraordinary 
improvement  effected  in  the  flowers,  esculent  vegetables, 
and  fruits  of  almost  every  country.  That  the  Cereals 
have  only  to  a  limited  extent  shared  these  advantages  is 
a  subject  of  just  surprise  to  the  curious  inquirer ;  but, 
until  very  recently,  it  was  doubted  that  much,  if  any- 
thing, could  be  accomplished  in  regard  to  them.  Pro- 
fessor Gsertner,  of  Stuttgart,  who  has  been  said  to  have 
almost  exhausted  the  subject  in  certain  points  of  view; 
has  declared  the  Cereals  to  be  £  among  the  plants 


42  THE    WHEAT   CULTUBIST. 

least  favorable  to  cross-fecundation."  In  1851,  however, 
prize  medals  were  awarded  at  the  Industrial  Exhibition, 
in  London,  to  Mr.  B.  Maund,  and  to  Mr.  H.  Raynbird, 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  for  their  respective  collections 
of  "  hybrid  Cereali."  In  their  award,  the  jurors  speak 
of  the  process,  not  as  impracticable,  but  merely  as  being 
difficult,  in  consequence  of  the  care  requisite  in  remov- 
ing the  unexpanded  anthers  from  one  plant,  and  apply- 
ing the  pollen  of  another,  and  subsequently  guarding 
them  from  the  attacks  of  birds,  insects,  and  other  dis- 
turbing influences. 

"  Mr.  Maund  experimented  with  '  Cone '  wheat,  which 
contains  much  gluten,  in  the  hope  that  by  crossing  it 
with  a  race  containing  more  starch,  he  might  obtain  a 
whiter  quality  of  equal  value  ;  but  it  is  not  stated  that 
he  was  wholly  successful.  Mr.  Raynbird  commenced 
his  experiments  in  1846,  with  the  i  Hopetoun,'  a  white 
wheat,  of  long  ear  and  straw,  and  fine  grain,  and 
'Piper's  Thickset,'  a  coarse  red  wheat,  with  thick, 
clustered  ears,  a  stiff  straw,  and  very  prolific,  but  liable 
to  mildew.  Mr.  Maund  enumerates  eight  instances  in 
which  successful  cross-fecundation  had  taken  place,  as 
follows : 

"  Mr.  Maund  found,  as  a  general  rule,  in  the  cross- 
fecundation  of  wheat,  that  a  strong  male  and  a  weak 
female  produced  a  better  result  than  a  weak  male  and  a 
strong  female.  This  principle  holds  equally  good  in 
the  animal  kingdom  as  well  as  in  the  vegetable. 

"The  entire  feasibleness  of  the  production  of  new  va- 
rieties of  wheat  by  cross-fecundation,  and  its  great  de- 
sirableness, being  thus  established,  it  is  not  doubted  that 
many  intelligent  agriculturists  of  the  United  States  will 
be  willing  to  institute  further  experiments  for  the  pur- 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTTJKIST.  4:3 

pose  of  developing  improved  varieties,  or  such  as  shall 
be  found  peculiarly  adapted  to  the  soil,  climate,  or  de- 
mands of  particular  sections  of  the  country ;  and,  for 
their  guidance,  a  few  practical  suggestions  will  here  be 
given. 

"  New  varieties  thus  produced  resemble  both  parents, 
but  seldom  in  an  equal  degree.  In  successful  experi- 
ments, they  are  usually  of  earlier  development  than 
either  parent,  more  prolific,  and  better  adapted  to  with- 
stand cold  and  drought.  A  late  plant  of  an  early,  and 
an  early  plant  of  a  late  race,  may  be  made  to  produce 
early,  late,  and  intermediate  varieties.  Sometimes, 
when  the  first  cross  is  not  good,  a  mixture  between  it 
and  one  of  the  parent  races,  or  even  a  second  or  third 
cross  of  this  nature,  may  result  in  the  desired  quality. 
Two  races,  which  do  not  cross  freely,  may  also  find  a 
medium  of  union  in  a  third.  Again,  a  race  that  will 
not  readily  receive,  will  often  freely  impart  impregna- 
tion. 

u  In  every  perfect  head  of  wheat,  there  are,  during  the 
blooming  season,  both  male  and  female  organs  of  repro- 
duction, three  stamens  and  one  pistil.  The  stamens,  or 
male  organs,  shoot  out  beyond  the  chaff,  or  calyx,  each 
having  an  anther  suspended  by  a  fine  thread. 

"The  three  males  are  designed  to  impregnate  the 
stigma  of  the  one  female,  or  pistil,  which  is  situated  in 
the  centre  of  the  anthers.  From  these  anthers,  a  pow- 
der, or  pollen,  is  emitted,  which  adheres  to,  or  is  ab- 
sorbed by,  the  stigma,  and  is  conveyed  by  it  down  to 
the  berry,  or  seed,  at  its  base,  and  thus  effects  the  work 
of  fecundation.  So  decided  is  the  preference  of  the 
pistil  for  the  pollen  of  its  own  stamens,  that  it  is  often 
impossible  to  impregnate  it  with  that  of  any  other  head, 


4:4:  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

while  a  particle  of  this  is  near.  Impregnation  takes 
place  best  when  the  weather  is  dry  and  warm,  as  a  pecu- 
liar warmth,  and  a  certain  electric  state  of  the  atmos- 
phere, prepare  the  parts  for  this  process,  which  always 
occurs  on  a  dry  day.  The  opinion,  indeed,  has  been  ex- 
pressed, that  the  pollen  of  the  male  conveys  hydrogen 
to  the  ovules  of  the  female ;  that  oxygen  is  received  from 
the  atmosphere,  and  carbon,  in  the  form  of  carbonic 
acid  gas,  from  the  roots ;  and  that,  when  the  pollen  is 
destroyed  by  the  rain,  or  from  any  other  cause,  the 
carbon  alone  is  found  in  the  ear ;  and  this  is  the  well- 
known  '  smut '  in  wheat.  That  pollen  of  the  stamen  is 
essential  to  impregnation  is  at  least  certain ;  and  it  is  al- 
most as  certain,  from  what  has  been  stated,  that  the  total 
destruction  of  the  reproductive  power  of  a  particular 
race  of  wheat  must  be  effected,  before  the  influence  of 
another  can  be  felt.  Two  races  being  placed  together, 
therefore,  a  cross  can  only  be  certainly  effected  by  clipping 
the  anthers  from  all  the  stamens  of  one  variety,  and  leav- 
ing the  work  of  impregnation  to  be  effected  by  those  of 
the  other  exclusively.  This  may  be  done  by  any  person 
capable  of  distinguishing  between  the  two  races ;  but, 
perhaps,  the  safer  guide  to  this  distinction  consists  in 
sowing  the  two  in  separate  drills,  very  near  each  other, 
say  nine  or  ten  inches  apart ;  and  to  render  the  work 
still  more  sure,  there  should  be  no  other  growing  wheat 
within  at  least  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  that  experimented 
upon,  the  affinity  between  the  pollen  and  the  ovules 
being  of  almost  incredible  force. 

"  As  soon  as  the  anthers  show  their  first  rudiments, 
in  a  race  upon  which  the  cross  is  to  be  made,  they 
should  be  carefully  removed,  or  clipped  with  a  pair  of 
sharp  scissors,  leaving  the  female  organs  undisturbed. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTTJRIST.  45 

Thus  the  races  would  be  impregnated  with  the  pollen 
of  one.  When  matured,  the  utmost  care  should  be 
taken  to  gather  the  seeds  of  the  crossed  race  by 
itself. 

"Hybridization  is  an  operation  requiring  dexterity, 
a  light  and  steady  hand ;  and  it  has  been  frequently  re- 
marked that  the  operation  is  more  uniformly  successful 
when  performed  by  a  female.  Many  singular  facts  with 
regard  to  the  structure  of  flowers  have  been  discovered 
through  attempts  to  hybridize.  In  the  common  nettle, 
the  stamens  have  elastic  filaments  which  are  at  first  bent 
down  so  as  to  be  obscured  by  the  calyx ;  but  when  the 
pollen  is  ripe,  the  filaments  jerk  out,  and  thus  scatter 
the  powder  on  the  pistils  which  occupy  separate  flowers. 
In  the  common  barberry  the  lower  part  of  the  filament 
is  very  irritable ;  and  whenever  it  is  touched  the  stamen 
moves  forward  to  the  pistil.  In  the  stylewort  the  sta- 
mens and  pistils  are  united  in  a  common  column,  which 
projects  from  the  flower.  This  column  is  very  irritable 
at  the  angle  where  it  leaves  the  flower,  and  when 
touched  it  passes  with  a  sudden  jerk  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  and  thus  scatters  the  pollen." 

KLIPPAKT'S  SUGGESTIONS. 

"  When  it  is  desired  to  obtain  a  hybrid  from  her- 
maphrodite flowers,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  re- 
move the  anthers ;  this  is  best  performed  early  in  the 
morning,  because  the  dew  has  swollen  the  anthers,  and 
prevents  the  opening  of  the  little  sac,  which  contains 
the  pollen.  The  simplest  method  of  removing  the 
anthers  is  to  use  a  pair  of  very  small  scissors  or  forceps. 
Then  at,  or  toward  noon,  carefully  remove  the  anthers 


46  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

from  the  flower  with  whose  pollen  we  wish  to  impreg- 
nate., and  shake  them  gently  so  that  the  pollen  dust  may 
fall  upon  and  adhere  to  the  stigma  of  the  flower  from 
which  the  anthers  had  been  removed  in  the  morning. 
The  heat  of  the  day  produces  a  dilatation  of  the  pollen, 
and  thus  facilitates  its  dispersion. 

"  In  order,  then,  to  hybridize,  it  is  necessary  to  take 
the  heads  of  wheat  which  are  intended  to  be  the  parents, 
both  male  and  female,  when  they  have  arrived  at  that 
state  of  maturity  indicated  by  Fig.  7,  or  before  any  of 
the  anthers  nave  escaped  from  the  glume.  Suppose  a 
cross  is  intended  to  be  consummated  between  the  Gen- 
esee  Flint,  as  male,  and  White  Blue  Stem,  as  female. 
Then,  on  a  dry  and  warm  day — this  state  of  weather 
seems  to  be  necessary,  as  at  such  times  impregnation  not 
only  more  readily  takes  place,  but  appears  to  be  more 
successful — between  10  and  12  o'clock,  hold  the  head  of 
the  Blue  Stem  downward,  and  carefully  open  the  glume ; 
then  with  a  very  sharp-pointed  scissors,  cut  off  the 
anthers  (a,  c,  <?,  Fig.  7),  and  let  them  fall  to  the  ground. 
Great  care  must  be  taken  that  no  anther  is  permitted  to 
touch  the  pistil  of  the  same  head,  either  before  or  after 
separation  of  the  filaments  (5,  Z>,  Fig.  7).  This  is  perhaps 
the  most  delicate  part  of  the  operation.  After  the 
anthers  have  been  removed,  pollen  grains  from  the 
anthers  of  the  Genesee  Flint  must  be  immediately  ap- 
plied to  the  pistil  of  the  glumes  from  which  the  anthers 
have  been  removed. 

"  In  order  to  preserve  the  heads  thus  impregnated 
from  injury  "by  insects  or  birds,  they  may  be  enveloped 
in  a  hood  of  gauze,  or  Swiss  muslin ;  but  110  caution 
whatever  is  necessary  to  guard  against  accidental  intro- 
duction of  pollen  grains." 


THE  WHEAT  CTJLTURIST.  47 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  A  PERFECT  YARIETY  OF  WHEAT. 

As  the  growing  wheat  plants  and  ripening  grain  have 
so  many  enemies  to  encounter,  and  as  variable  climates 
and  changing  seasons  greatly  affect  the  quality  of  the 
grain  and  the  yield  per  acre,  it  is  eminently  desirable 
that  a  variety  should  be  selected  for  seed  which  will 
escape  if  possible,  all  the  injuries  incident  to  the  wheat 
crop.  I  will  mention  the  most  desirable  characteristics 
of  a  superior  variety  of  winter  wheat. 

1.  Early  maturity.     This  characteristic  must  not  be 
overlooked,  as  a  period  of  only  a  few  days  in  the  matu- 
rity of  the  crop,  will  often  decide  whether  the  farmer  is 
rewarded  for  his  labors,  or  whether  the  wheat  midge 
destroys  most  of  the  crop. 

2.  Prolificacy.    By  this  I  mean,  that  the  variety  shall 
be  pure,  having  been  cultivated  with  unusual  care  on 
a  fertile  soil,  until  the  yield  will  be  as  large  as  it  is 
possible  for  the  soil  to  produce  of  any  other  variety  of 
wheat. 

3.  Midge-proof.    The  glumes,  or  chaff,  of  certain  vari- 
eties of  wheat  grow  with  an  open  chaff,  which  enables 
the  wheat  midge  to  commit  its  ravages  with  very  little 
hindrance  ;  while  the  chaff  of  other  varieties  grows  close 
to  the  kernels,  thus  offering  a  very  effectual  preventive 
to  the  entrance  of  these  pests  of  the  wheat  field.     A 
variety  that  grows  with  a  loose  and  open  chaff  should 
be  rejected,  and  a  kind  of  seed  chosen  that  grows  with 
the  chaff  close  to  the  kernels. 

4.  A  thin  sk.in,  or  ~bran.     Some  varieties  of  wheat 
will  yield  several  pounds  more  of  flour  than  another 
variety.     For  this  reason,  that  wheat  which  will  yield 
the  largest  quantity  of  flour  per  bushel,  is  more  profit- 


4-3  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

able  to  cultivate,  than  a  variety-  which  affords  a  larger 
percentage  of  bran. 

5.  Hardiness  in  winter.  Very  few  farmers  in  our 
country  recognize  this  characteristic  of  wheat.  Either 
they  do  not  believe  it,  or  they  have  not  given  the  sub- 
ject sufficient  thought  to  satisfy  their  minds,  that  one 
kind  of  wheat  may  produce  tender  plants  that  the  cold 
weather  will  destroy,  while  the  plants  of  another  variety, 
growing  in  the  same  soil,  will  not  be  injured  by  the  cold 
weather.  I  consider  this  characteristic  of  wheat  one  of 
the  most  excellent  features  that  can  be  named  in  any  va- 
riety of  winter  grain. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood  on  this  point.  1  do 
not  mean  that  the  young  plants  of  a  hardy  variety  will 
not  be  lifted  out  by  the  freezing  and  thawing  of  wet 
ground,  while  the  plants  of  a  tender  variety  will  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  upheaval  of  the  surface  of  the  land.  That 
is  not  my  idea.  JSTo  wheat  plant  can  resist  the  action 
of  the  frost  in  heaving  out  the  roots,  when  wet  ground 
freezes  and  thaws.  But,  what  I  desire  to  be  understood 
on  this  point  is,  that  on  dry  land,  which  is  naturally 
dry,  or  has  been  made  so  by  under-draining,  the  plants 
of  one  variety  of  wheat  will  endure  the  rigors  of  winter 
without  injury,  while  those  which  sprang  from  another 
variety  of  wheat  sowed  at  the  same  period,  will  experi- 
ence such  serious  injury  by  the  cold  weather — not  by 
being  lifted  out  by  the  frost — that  the  product  of  grain 
will  not  be  half  a  crop. 

A  farmer  can  determine  by  observation  whether  a 
wheat  plant  has  been  lifted  out  of  the  soil  by  the 
frost,  or  whether  the  dead  or  injured  stems  and  leaves 
remain  as  they  grew.  If  wheat  plants  die  without  being 
lifted  out  by  the  frost,  the  evidence  is  conclusive  that 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  49 

the  variety  is  not  so  hardy  as  it  should  be.  Every  wheat- 
grower  should  take  critical  observations  on  this  subject, 
with  a  purpose  to  reject  a  variety  that  will  not  endure 
the  winter  satisfactorily,  and  to  improve  those  kinds 
that  appear  most  hardy. 

6.  Regularity  of  Rows  of  Grain.—  A  perfect  variety 
of  wheat  will   produce   regular  and  uniform  rows  of 
grain;  and  the  kernels  will   all  appear  of  a  uniform 
shape  and  color.     When  the  variety  is  not  perfect,  the 
heads  will  exhibit  irregularities  of  form,  like  the  Weeks 
Wheat  on  a  succeeding  page.     The  Andriolo  shows  a 
perfect  wheat.     The  form  of  the  heads,  the  color  and 
shape  of  the  kernels,  may  'always  be  relied  on,  as  a  cer- 
tain index  to  the  purity  of  the  variety. 

7.  Stiffness  of  Straw. — Some   kinds   of  wheat   will 
lodge,  or  fall  flat  to  the  ground,  long  before  harvest 
time ;  while  the  stems  of  another  kind  will  maintain  an 
erect  position  until  the  grain  is  perfectly  matured.     The 
ears  of  grain  will  never  swell  out  full  and  plump,  filled 
with  large  kernels,  if  the  stems  are  not  kept  in  an  erect 
position  till  harvest  time.     Grain  that  has  a  slender 
straw,  therefore,  should  be  rejected ;  and  a  variety  should 
be  chosen  that  produces  stems  which  will  not  lodge, 
unless  the  growing  crop  is  beaten  down  by  protracted 
storms  in  connection  with  driving  wind. 

THE  HABIT  OF  THE  WHEAT  PLANT. 

By  habit  is  understood  the  manner  of  growth  and 
development  of  the  stem,  leaves,  and  roots.  In  order  to 
be  able  to  cultivate  wheat  with  satisfactory  success,  a 
farmer  should  have  a  correct  understanding  and  a  lively 
appreciation  of  the  habit  of  the  growing  plants,  which 
will  enable  him  to  prepare  the  soil,  put  in  the  seed  at 

3 


50 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUETST. 


the  proper  depth,  sow  the  most  desirable  quantity  per 
acre,  and  give  the  growing  crop  the  proper  cultivation. 
In  order  to  obtain  a  more  correct  idea  of  the  habit 
of  the  wheat  plant,  experiments  should  be  made  by 
planting  a  few  kernels  of  wheat. 


FIG.  8.— Wheat  plant. 


The  accompanying  illustration  of  a  young  wheat  plant, 
which  sprang  from  a  kernel  planted  by  myself,  will 


THE   WHEAT   CULTtTRIST.  51 

serve  to  show  something  of  the  habit  of  wheat.  Every 
kernel  sends  out  numerous  long  roots  and  roc  tlets,  as 
represented  by  the  figure.  The  kernel  was  buried  about 
one  inch  deep.  The  longest  leaf  was  about  four  inches 
long  when  the  sketch  was  made.  The  roots  which 
spring  from  the  kernel  are  called  the  primary  roots. 
At  A,  a  little  below  the  surface  of  the  soil,  is  a  ring,  or 
bulb,  in  the  stem,  from  whence  the  coronal,  or  secondary 
roots  spring,  which  all  spread  out  horizontally ;  while  the 
primary  roots  strike  downward  as  far  as  the  soil  has  been 
pulverized ;  and  where  the  subsoil  is  not  compact,  the 
roots  frequently  grow  from  one  to  four  feet  below  the 
stratum  of  soil  moved  by  the  plough. 

Here  is  a  point  of  eminently  practical  importance  to 
wheat-growers,  which  will  be  explained  more  fully  under 
the  heading  of  the  Advantages  of  Drilling  in  the  Seed, 
viz. :  when  the  grain  is  deposited  from  one  to  two  inches 
deep,  the  primary  roots,  which  issue  from  the  kernel, 
and  the  secondary  roots  springing  from  the  joint  A,  are 
so  near  each  other  that  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  soil 
is  not  so  liable  to  injure  the  plants  during  a  mild  winter 
or  late  spring,  as  the  numerous  roots  and  fibres  hold  the 
soil  in  a  kind  of  mat,  which  prevents  the  frost  from 
heaving  out  the  young  plants. 

The  habit  of  the  wheat  plant  is  further  illustrated  by 
the  accompanying  figure  of  a  wheat  plant  which 
sprang  from  a  kernel  planted  six  inches  below  the  sur- 
face. The  leaves,  it  will  be  perceived,  appear  slender 
and  not  so  strong  and  luxuriant  as  those  of  the  pre- 
ceding plant.  There  is  a  plausible  and  philosophical 
reason  for  it.  The  substance  which  composes  the  kernel 
is  transformed  into  the  primary  roots  and  stem.  If  the 
kernel  is  small,  and  is  buried  deep,  there  is  sometimea 


52 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


not  enough  nourishment  in  it  to  form  a  stem  to  reach 
the  surface  of  the  ground.     When  this  is  the  case,  both 

roots  and  stem 
cease  to  grow, 
and  die  before 
the  young 
plant  has 
come  up.  In 
five  days  after 
the  kernel  was 
planted,  the 
first  leaf  ap- 
p  e  a  r  e  d.  In 
two  days  more 
the  leaves 
were  develop- 
ed as  here  rep- 
resented. The 
joint  at  A,  in- 
sures the  for- 
mation of  a 
system  of  sec- 
ondary roots, 
the  office  of 
which  is  to 
take  up  nour- 
ishment for 
the  growth 
and  fructifica- 
tion of  the  plant.  At  this  point  also  the  tillering  of  the 
plant  takes  place,  and  not  where  the  primary  roots  unite 
with  the  stem  at  the  base.  The  stem  of  this  plant  is 
represented  as  having  been  doubled. 


FIG.  9. — A  young  wheat  plant  from  a  kernel  planted  deep. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 


TILLERING  OF  THE  WHEAT  PLANT. 

As  an  effectual  means  of  multiplying  the  young 
wheat  plants,  where  the  soil  is  sufficiently  rich  to  sustain 
more  than  one  stem, 
nature  has  provided 
for  an  increase  of 
the  stems,  just  in 
proportion  to  the 
amount  of  roots. 

The  illustration 
herewith  given  rep- 
resents a  stool  of 
growing  wheat 
which  has  sprung 
from  a  single  kernel. 
If  the  soil  is  rich,  so 
that  large  and  strong 
roots  are  formed 
which  afford  more 
nourishment  than 
one  stem  can  appro- 
priate to  its  growth 
and  development," 
other  plumules  or 
stems  will  continue 
to  appear  until  they 
can  take  up  all  the 
nourishment  that 
the  complete  mat  of 
roots  supplies.  See 
this  subject  more  ful- 
ly explained  under  the  head  of  Thick  and  Thin  Seeding. 


FIG.  10.— Stool  of  wheat. 


54  THE   WHEAT   CULTUBIST. 

The  tillers  always  spring  from  the  joint,  knot,  or  bulb, 
just  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  when  the  seed  is 
planted  more  than  one  inch  deep.  When  the  kernels 
are  planted  very  shallow,  it  seems  difficult  to  determine 
whether  the  new  stems  or  tillers  start  from  the  grain, 
from  the  seminal,  or  primary  roots,  or  from  the  coronal, 
or  secondary  roots.  This  a  matter  of  little  consequence. 
Yet  the  fact  that  the  young  wheat  plant  does  tiller  is  a 
valuable  one ;  and  practical  wheat-growers  may  take 
profitable  advantage  of  it. 

I  have  seen  stools  of  wheat  having  forty-eight  stems  ; 
and  have  had  reliable  accounts  of  stools  of  over  seventy 


\    \ 


FIG.  11.— Stool  of  stubble. 


stems  with  perfect  heads.  C.  Miller  planted  a  few  ker- 
nels of  wheat  on  the  2d  day  of  June ;  and  in  August, 
one  of  the  plants  had  tillered  so  much  that  he  was  en- 
abled to  divide  it  into  eighteen  distinct  plants,  all  of 
which  were  transplanted.  After  a  few  weeks,  these  had 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  55 

tillered  to  such  an  extent,  that  the  number  of  single 
plants  put  out  before  winter  was  sixty-seven.  The  next 
spring  all  these  plants  continued  to  till er,  until  the  num- 
ber of  growing  stalks,  from  one  kernel,  amounted  to  five 
hundred.  The  soil  was  in  an  excellent  state  of  fertility  ; 
and  the  product  of  grain  reported  from  a  single  kernel, 
was  so  large,  that  I  cannot  receive  it  with  sufficient  con- 
fidence to  enable  me  to  record  the  result  in  this  place. 
What  I  have  penned  will  be  amply  sufficient  to  show  the 
practical  farmer,  when  he  has  only  one  or  a  dozen  ker- 
nels of  wheat,  liow  he  may  obtain  more  than  a  thou- 
sand-fold in  one  season.  By  understanding  the  habit  of 
the  wheat  plant,  when  producing  a  new  variety  of  grain, 
a  farmer  may  accomplish  in  one  year,  more  than  he 
would  be  able  to  do  in  three  seasons,  if  he  be  ignorant 
of  this  peculiar  habit  of  the  growing  plant. 

How  THE  STEMS  ARE  FORMED. 

Trees  are  exogenous  plants  ;  but  wheat  and  the  other 
grains  are  endogenous.  Trees  and  some  other  kinds  of 
plants  increase  in  height  by  the  growth  of  the  outside 
and  the  outer  extremity  of  branches.  But  the  stems  of 
wheat  increase  in  height  by  lengthening  the  cylindrical 
portions  between  the  joints.  The  straw,  or  tubular  stem, 
is  formed  nearly  the  way  that  lead  pipe  is  made.  The 
melted  lead  is  forced  out  of  an  issue  at  the  under  side 
of  a  huge  iron  mould,  by  means  of  a  piston  fitting  air- 
tight, which  is  forced  down  upon  the  lead  equal  to  a 
superincumbent  pressure  of  one  thousand  tons  !  The 
tube  issues  from  the  mould  slowly,  so  that  the  metal  has 
sufficient  time  to  cool  before  it  leaves  the  mould. 
Within  a  space  of  six  inches  in  the  mould,  the  lead  pipe 


56  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

may  be  found  in  every  stage  of  formation,  from  perfect 
liquidity  to  a  solid.  Perhaps  an  inch  from  the  outside 
of  the  issue  of  thf  mould,  the  lead  is  in  a  semi-plastic 
state.  A  little  farther  up,  the  lead  tube  is  in  a  semi- 
fluid condition.  On  the  upper  side  of  the  joints  of 
wheat  straw,  down  in  the  sheaths,  which  fit  the  straw 
cylinders  perfectly  air-tight,  the  material  which  forms 
the  straw  is  in  a  liquid  state.  The  sheath  is  the  mould, 
and  the  straw  is  the  piston.  By  the  vital  expansion  of 
the  liquid  above  the  joints,  the  length  of  the  straw  ie 
increased  between  them,  so  that  the  upward  growth  o^ 
the  plant  takes  place  above  every  joint.  If  there  be  six 
joints  in  one  straw,  and  the  length  of  each  is  increased 
only  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  twenty-four  hours,  the 
head  of  grain  'will  be  elevated  above  the  roots  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  per  day. 

These  facts  in  vegetable  physiology  will  enable  us  to 
understand  why  the  stalks  of  Indian  corn  often  grow 
more  than  two  inches  in  height  in  less  than  a  day; 
and  we  perceive,  also,  something  of  the  practical  im- 
portance of  having  an  abundant  supply  of  nourishment 
for  the  roots  of  the  growing  wheat  to  take  up  and  ap- 
propriate to  the  growth  and  development  of  the  straw, 
at  that  critical  period  when  portions  of  the  straw  are  in 
a  liquid  state ;  as  the  wheat  plant  cannot  lay  up  in  store 
plant  food  to  be  employed  in  promoting  the  growth  of 
the  various  parts  at  the  time  when  the  pabulum  is 
needed  most.  The  growth  of  wheat  plants  suggests 
many  interesting  thoughts  to  which  I  shall  not  allude, 
as  the  purpose  of  this  treatise  is  primarily  to  bring 
out  items  of  a  practical  character,  without  burdening 
the  reader  with  interesting  theories  of  no  practical 
utility. 


THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURIST.  57 


CLIMATOLOGY  OF  "WHEAT. 

For  more  than  thirty  years,  I  have  taken  observations 
on  this  subject,  with  a  special  reference  to  ascertaining 
what  are  the  facts  in  the  case  with  reference  to  the  cli- 
matology of  the  wheat  plant.  My  purpose  has  been, 
if  possible,  to  lay  down  some  reliable  guide  for  be- 
ginners who  'may  exist  hereafter.  But  I  regret  to  say, 
that  I  have  been  able  to  find  nothing  to  corroborate  the 
popular  theory  in  relation  to  selecting  wheat  from  dif- 
ferent latitudes,  with  a  view  to  secure  a  variety  that 
will  ripen  as  early  as  it  possible  for  a  crop  of  wheat  to 
mature.  (I  may  state,  in  parentheses,  in  this  place,  as 
the  idea  is  quite  irrelevant  to  the  subject,  that  the  ulti 
mate  object  in  procuring  seed  wheat  from  other  climates 
is  to  get  a  variety  of  grain  that  will  ripen  before  the 
wheat  midge  commences  its  ravages.  Late-ripening 
wheat  is  far  more  liable  to  be  destroyed  by  the  wheat 
midge  than  if  the  grain  matured  ten  to  fourteen  days 
earlier.  See  this  subject  elucidated  under  its  appro- 
priate heading — Selecting  Early  Varieties.) 

Farmers  have  always  said  that,  in  order  to  obtain  a 
variety  of  grain  that  will  ripen  earlier  in  the  season,  the 
seed  must  be  obtained  in  a  latitude  farther  to  the  north, 
except  for  wheat,  which  must  be  brought  from  a  south- 
ern latitude.  Numerous  experiments  have  been  re- 
corded, showing  that  wheat  brought  from  a  latitude 
farther  north,  failed  to  mature  as  early  in  the  season  as 
the  same  variety  had  been  accustomed  to  ripen  where  the 
seed  grew ;  and  when  the  seed  was  brought  from  the 
south,  the  same  failure  was  observable. 

I  have,  therefore,  arrived  at  the  following  deliberate, 

3* 


58  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

and  I  think  correct  conclusion :  that  wheat  is  not  diner- 
ent  from  Indian  corn,  and  other  grain,  as  it  regards 
climatology.  I  believe  that  seed  wheat  is  governed  by 
the  same  laws  that  control  other  useful  plants.  The 
seasons  are  so  different  that  the  same  variety,  cultivated 
by  the  same  farmer,  and  where  soil  and  location  are  as 
nearly  alike  as  it  is  practicable  to  have  them,  will  not 
ripen  at  the  same  period  in  two,  three,  or  four  succeed- 
ing harvests.  Consequently,  when  seed  is  brought  from 
the  north,  and  it  fails  to  produce  a  satisfactory  crop,  and 
to  ripen  as  soon  as  the  same  variety  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  mature,  nothing  definite  is  proved,  in  regard 
to  the  climatology  of  the  wheat  plant;  because  the 
field  where  the  wheat  was  grown,  may  have  been  a 
warm  and  quick  soil,  having  a  southern  exposure  ;  and 
the  crop  may  have  had  the  advantages  of  superior  culti- 
vation and  a  propitious  season,  and  every  circumstance 
favoring  a  bountiful  crop.  On  the  contrary,  the  seed 
may  be  sowed  in  a  soil  not  so  fertile  as  where  it  grew, 
which  would  make  a  marked  difference  in  the  next  crop. 
Besides  this,  the  soil  may  be  cold,  clammy,  and  late,  the 
cultivation  inferior,  the  season  unpropitious,  and  every- 
thing adverse  to  the  production  of  a  bountiful  crop  early 
in  the  growing  season. 

This  is  the  manner  in  which  all  our  experiments  have 
been  conducted.  Consequently,  the  conclusions  are  in- 
correct. Because  some  farmers  have  obtained  their  seed 
wheat  at  a  few  degrees  south  of  their  own  locality,  and 
by  superior  cultivation  and  richer  ground  and  propi- 
tious seasons  have  succeeded  in  raising  better  crops 
than  southern  farmers,  it  is  not  safe  and  in  accordance 
with  the  laws  of  vegetable  physiology  to  conclude  that 
we  must  secure  seed  wheat  from  a  southern  latitude  in 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  59 

order  to  have  the  crop  ripen  as  early  as  practicable. 
There  are  many  things  that  will  exert  a  marked  in- 
fluence on  the  growth  and  fructification  of  wheat,  which 
should  not  be  overlooked  when  one  is  conducting  an  ex- 
periment to  determine  any-  point  touching  the  climatol- 
ogy of  wheat,  or  of  any  other  plant. 

J.  S.  Lippincott,  Haddonfield,  N".  J.,  writes  on  this 
subject : 

"  When  importing  seed  wheat  and  any  other  seed  of 
new  or  superior  varieties  of  plants,  attention  should 
always  be  directed  to  the  peculiarities  of  the  soil  arid 
climate  under  which  they  originated,  and  those  under 
which  it  is  proposed  to  grow  them.  English  varieties 
of  spring  wheat  that  are  sown  in  February  or  early  in 
March,  have  the  benefit  of  early  spring  growth,  and 
of  a  milder  and  moister  summer  than  a  spring-sown 
wheat  can  have  in  the  eastern  United  States.  The  fail- 
ure that  has  attended  recent  attempts  to  introduce 
English  varieties  of  wheat  is  no  new  thing,  such  hav- 
ing been  the  almost  universal  result  for  many  years 
past. 

"  If  it  be  true  that  each  variety  of  grain  is  adapted 
to  a  specific  climate  in  which  it  grows  perfectly,  and 
where  it  does  not  degenerate  when  supplied  with  pro- 
per and  sufficient  nourishment,  may  not  the  considera- 
tion of  the  origin  of  each  variety  we  propose  to  sow  be 
of  more  importance  than  has  yet  been  accorded  to  it  in 
the  selection  of  minor  varieties,  the  product  of  our  own 
country  ?  The  varieties  of  wheat  that  have  originated 
apparently  by  accident  (for  there  are  no  accidents  in 
nature),  or  from  peculiar  culture,  do  not  enjoy  all  the 
surroundings  necessary  for  perfect  continuous  product. 
Causes  yet  unexplained  are  ever  at  work  modifying  the 


60  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

germ  of  the  new  growth,  and  the  guardian  care  of  man 
is  needed  to  preserve  unimpaired  or  to  perfect  the  al- 
ready improved  sorts.  In  most  soils  we  are  aware  that 
wTheat  degenerates  rapidly  if  the  seed  be  sown  year  after 
year  where  it  was  produced.  ISTor  is  it  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent degeneration  that  the  seed  be  taken  from  a  differ- 
ent field ;  but  that  grown  on  a  soil  of  different  quality  is  to 
be  preferred ;  and  if  from  a  different  climate,  but  not 
widely  diverse,  it  is  found  that  the  product  is  increased 
in  quality  and  in  quantity. 

"  English-grown  seed  when  sown  in  Ireland  generally 
comes  to  maturity  ten  days  or  two  weeks  earlier  than 
the  native-grown  seed.  In  general,  plants  propagated 
from  seed  produced  on  a  warm,  sandy  soil,  will  grow 
rapidly  in  whatever  soil  the  seed  is  sown ;  and  plants 
from  seed  produced  in  a  stiff,  cold  soil  are  late  in  grow- 
ing, even  in  a  warmer  soil.  On  limestone  soils,  which 
are  often  heavy,  wheat  seed,  the  product  of  sandstone 
regions,  generally  succeeds  best.  The  experience  of  a 
Kentucky  farmer  shows  that  seed  wheat  obtained  from 
a  northern  locality  has  failed  with  him,  owing  to  late 
ripening  and  consequent  injury  from  rust.  The  experi- 
ment was  tried  with  three  varieties  of  northern-grown 
seed,  and  with  the  same  result  in  each  case.  When 
wheat  from  a  southern  locality  was  sown  by  the  same 
experimenter,  his  crop  ripened  early,  was  free  from  rust 
and  disease,  and  improved  in  sample  over  the  original ; 
while  the  main  crop,  in  the  same  district,  was  ruined  by 
rust  and  other  diseases.  This  experience  was  corrobor- 
ated by  the  result  of  four  seasons  of  growth ;  and  the 
southern-grown  seed,  because  of  its  early  ripening,  is 
rapidly  superseding  all  the  later  wheats  in  the  district 
referred  to.  The  kind  of  wheat  introduced  from  the 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  61 

more  southern  region  of  Tennessee,  or  perhaps  northern 
Alabama,  is  the  '  Early  May,'  which,  though  small,  pos- 
sesses superior  flouring  qualities,  and  is  now  the  ordi- 
nary wheat  of  some  northern  counties  of  Kentucky, 
where  it  does  not  deteriorate,  but  improves  in  quality. 
The  controversy  that  was  originated  by  the  introduction 
of  the  Tennessee  '  Early  May  '  wheat  into  northern  lo- 
calities appears  to  have  settled  into  the  belief  that  the 
selection  of  southern-grown,  early-ripening  varieties  is 
judicious  where  it  is  necessary  that  the  grain  should 
attain  early  maturity. 

"  The  '  Mediterranean  '  is  an  early-ripening  southern 
wheat,  which  it  is  said  was  introduced  in  1819  from 
Genoa,  Italy,  by  John  Gordon,  of  Wilmington,  Dela- 
ware. It  is  still  an  early-ripening  and  very  valuable 
wTheat,  adapted  to  many  districts  where  the  more  ten- 
der varieties,  subject  to  the  attacks  of  the  Hessian  fly, 
midge,  or  the  rust,  have  rendered  resort  to  this  kind 
necessary.  The  introduction  of  the  Mediterranean  has 
proved  an  invaluable  boon  to  many  districts.  Many 
other  valuable  kinds,  noted  for  early  maturity,  etc.,  are 
of  southern  origin.  The  Rochester,  or  original  White 
Flint,  is  said  to  have  been  of  Spanish  origin.  The 
Turkish  White  Flint  is  not  affected  by  fly,  rust,  or 
midge.  The  China  or  China  Velvet  wheat  ripens  at 
the  same  early  date  as  does  the  'Mediterranean,'  as 
also  does  the  Malta,  or  White  Smooth  Mediterranean. 
The  '  Early  Japan '  wheat,  from  seed  brought  by  Com- 
modore Perry,  is  also  from  a  warmer  region  than  our 
own,  and  ripens  early.  So  valuable  has  this  variety 
been  deemed  by  one  grower,  that  he  asserts  that  had 
Commodore  Perry  brought  many  bushels,  it  would  ere 
this  have  paid  the  expenses  of  the  expedition  from  the 


62  THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

increased   productiveness   through   early  ripening   and 
adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  country. 

u  All  attempts  to  ripen  wheat  early  by  sending  farther 
north  for  seed  have  signally  failed,  says  a  Kentucky 
farmer.  The  experimen  t  of  sowing  Canada-grown  wheat 
in  Pennsylvania  resulted  in  a  ripening  of  the  crop  two 
weeks  later  than  that  grown  from  native  seed.  As  to  the 
cereals,  which,  as  we  have  said,  possess  great  flexibility, 
and  are  readily  subject  to  the  influences  of  soil  and 
'  climate,  we  might  naturally  expect  to  find  that  wheat 
grown  for  a  long  time  in  southern  Tennessee  or  northern 
Alabama,  where  the  mean  temperature  of  March  equals, 
if  it  does  not  surpass,  that  of  April  in  northern  Ken- 
tucky and  southern  Ohio,  would  acquire  a  tendency  to 
early  vegetation,  which  it  would  retain  when  removed 
to  more  northern  localities,  and  the  plant  be  thus  en- 
abled by  early  maturity  to  escape  the  high  heats  of  early 
summer,  and  insect  enemies  which  appear  at  the  period 
of  the  late  ripening  of  northern-grown  wheats.  Though 
it  may  be  advisable  to  use  southern-grown  wheat  for 
seed,  the  rule,  we  fear,  will  not  apply  if  such  seed  has 
grown  more  than  two  or  three  degrees  farther  south. 
All  northern  planters  who  have  experimented  with 
southern-grown  seed-maize  have  learned  that  they  can- 
not ripen  the  crop  if  the  seed  has  been  brought  from  a 
few  degrees  of  lower  latitude.  This  arises  from  the 
sudden  decline  of  the  temperature  of  September  and  Octo- 
ber, and  the  early  access  of  killing  frosts,  which  shorten 
the  period  of  growth  to  which  the  large  and  rank- 
growing  southern  kinds  of  corn  have  been  accustomed, 
though  the  summer  heats  may  have  been  the  same  as 
they  had  known  in  their  native  place.  In  the  case  of 
the  southern  wheats  removed  to  a  northern  soil,  the 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  63 

variety  is  not  more  rank  or  strong-growing,  does  not 
appear  to  require  a  longer  season,  but  has  had  im- 
pressed upon  it  a  proclivity  to  early  vegetation  by  the 
influence  of  the  early  heats  of  March  and  April,  which 
are  not  known  in  the  north  until  April  and  May  re- 
spectively." 


DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN   WINTER   WHEAT   AND   SPRING 
WHEAT. 

It  has  been  maintained  by  writers  on  wheat  culture 
that  the  distinction  between  winter  and  spring  wheat 
is  one  which  arises  entirely  from  the  season  in  which 
the  seed  has  usually  been  sown ;  and  that  they  can 
readily  be  converted  into  each  other  by  sowing  earlier 
or  later,  and  gradually  accelerating  or  retarding  their 
growths.  If  a  winter  variety  is  caused  to  germinate 
slightly,  and  then  checked  by  exposure  to  a  low  tem- 
perature, or  freezing,  until  it  can  be  sown  in  spring, 
some  writers  have  asserted  that  it  may  be  converted 
into  a  spring  wheat. 

It  requires  a  long  time  to  change  winter  wheat  into 
a  spring  crop.  Still,  it  can  be  done,  by  persevering  for 
half  a  dozen  successive  years.  The  usual  way  to  change 
a  winter  wheat  to  spring  variety  is,  to  put  in  the  seed 
a  month  later  every  season,  until  the  period  of  vernal 
seed-time  is  reached.  This  makes  it  necessary  to  sow 
wheat  during  the  winter  months.  But  the  desired 
object  can  be  accomplished  in  a  much  more  expeditious 
way  than  to  sow  seed  in  December,  and  the  product 
of  that  crop,  the  next  January,  and  the  next  season  in 
February,  the  next  in  March,  and  the  next  in  April. 

The  most  expeditious  way  to  change  winter  wheat  to 


64  THE    WHEAT    CULTUBIST. 

spring  grain  is,  to  have  the  ground  all  ready  for  the  seed 
in  late  autumn ;  and  then,  the  day  before  the  ground 
is  frozen  up  solid,  sow  and  harrow  in,  or  drill  in  the 
seed.  Unless  the  ground  is  covered  with  a  deep  snow, 
the  grain  will  seldom  germinate  until  the  following 
spring.  (Read  the  remarks  on  another  page  of  this 
treatise,  under  the  head  of  Sowing  Wheat  in  Winter.) 
Should  there  be  a  heavy  body  of  snow  on  the  ground 
for  two  or  three  months,  the  wheat  will  sometimes  veg- 
etate, and  get  a  fair  start,  before  the  growing  season 
commences  the  next  spring.  As  a  general  rule,  wheat 
sowed  at  such  a  time  does  not  succeed  satisfactorily 
the  first,  nor  the  second  season.  But  let  the  seed  be 
selected  with  care  for  a  few  successive  years,  and 
sowed  in  the  early  part  of  the  growing  season ;  and 
after  a  few  years,  if  the  experiment  has  been  conducted 
on  a  soil  which  is  in  an  excellent  state  of  fertility,  a 
new  variety  of  spring  wheat  will  have  been  secured. 

In  attempting  to  produce  a  new  variety  of  spring 
wheat  from  winter  grain,  seed  of  a  very  hardy  and 
prolific  variety  should  be  selected,  in  preference  to 
taking  seed  of  some  ordinary  variety. 

A  writer  inquired  of  the  Editor  of  the  "  Germantown 
Telegraph"  :  "What  is  Spring  Wheat  ?  Is  it  a  distinct 
species  of  grain  from  winter  wheat,  and  if  so,  where  has 
it  come  from  ?  If  not,  how  was  it  produced  from  winter 
wheat  ?  I  have  applied  in  many  quarters  for  answers  to 
these  questions  without  success.  A  reply  will  oblige 
many  besides  myself."  The  Editor  answered :  "  Spring 
wheat  is  a  mere  variety  of  winter  wheat.  Some  of  the 
oldest  botanists  made  them  distinct  species  ;  but  winter 
wheat,  sown  early  in  spring,  has  ripened  grain  the  same 
year ;  and  other  changes  are  produced  in  a  similar  way. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJKIST.  65 

There  are  many  varieties  of  wheat,  of  more  or  less  per- 
manence— produced  by  a  difference  of  climate,  or  by 
successive  sowings  of  selected  grains,  with  some  con- 
tinued peculiarity  observed.  Even  the  compound  heads 
of  the  Egyptian  wheat  (see  Egyptian  Wheat)  produce 
single  spikes  after  a  while." 

The  author  of  the  Farmer's  Dictionary  states  that : 
"  The  distinction  between  the  winter  and  summer  wheats 
is  one  which  arises  entirely  from  the  season  in  which 
they  have  been  usually  sown ;  for  they  can  readily  be 
converted  into  each  other  by  sowing  earlier  or  later,  and 
gradually  accelerating  or  retarding  their  growth.  The 
difference  in  color  between  red  and  white  wheats  is 
owing  chiefly  to  the  soil ;  white  wheats  gradually  be- 
come darker,  and  ultimately  red  in  some  stiff,  wet  soils, 
and  the  red  wheats  lose  their  color  and  become  first 
yellow  and  then  white  on  rich,  light,  and  mellow  soils. 
It  is  remarkable  that  the  grain  sooner  changes  color 
than  the  chaff  and  straw :  hence  we  have  red  wheats  with 
white  chaff,  and  white  wheats  with  red  chaff,  which  on 
the  foregoing  principle  is  readily  accounted  for.  The 
chaff  retains  the  original  color  when  the  skin  of  the 
grain  has  already  changed  to  another.  We  state  this 
on  our  own  experience." 

J.  H.  Klippart,  in  his  Wheat  Plant,  says:  "To  con- 
vert winter  into  spring  wheat,  nothing  more  is  necessary 
than  that  the  winter  wheat  should  be  allowed  to  germi- 
nate slightly  in  the  fall  or  winter,  but  kept  from  vegeta- 
tion by  a  low  temperature  or  freezing,  until  it  can  be 
sown  in  the  spring.  This  is  usually  done  by  soaking 
and  sprouting  the  seed,  and  freezing  it  while  in  this 
state,  and  keeping  it  frozen  until  the  season  for  spring 
sowing  has  arrived.  Only  two  things  seem  requisite, 


66  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

germination  and  freezing.  It  is  probable  that  winter 
wheat  sown  in  the  fall,  so  late  as  only  to  germinate  in  the 
earth,  without  coming  up,  would  produce  a  grain  which 
would  be  a  spring  wheat  if  sown  in  April  instead  of 
September.  The  experiment  of  converting  winter  wheat 
into  spring  wheat  has  met  with  great  success.  It  re- 
tains many  of  its  primitive  winter- wheat  qualities,  and 
is  inferior  in  no  respect  to  the  best  varieties  of  spring 
wheat,  and  produces  at  the  rate  of  twenty-eight  bushels 
per  acre." 

THE  FASTIDIOUSNESS  OF  GROWING  WHEAT. 

It  has  been  stated  by  a  certain  writer,  that  "  the 
wheat  plant  has  no  greater  enemy  than  another  wheat 
plant."  But  I  cannot  coincide  with  that  assertion,  as  it 
is  not  in  keeping  with  the  habit  of  the  wheat  plant. 
If  the  wheat  plant  disliked  the  presence  of  another 
wheat  plant,  the  original  stool  would  not  surely  throw 
out  numerous  stems  by  its  side,  which  should  be  attached 
to  the  same  system  of  roots.  But  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  growing  wheat  dislikes  the  close  proximity  of 
grass  or  noxious  weeds.  And  more  than  this,  wheat 
has  a  'capricious  taste  for  its  plant  food,  quite  as  much 
so  as  human  beings,  whose  taste  is  so  delicate  that  they 
can  subsist  on  none  but  the  most  delicious  and  con- 
centrated nourishment.  Wheat  must  bear  undisputed 
sway  where  the  plants  grow,  or  the  stems,  leaves,  and 
grain  will  never  be  fully  developed.  Besides  this,  the 
growing  wheat  will  not  appropriate  its  nourishment  from 
the  rough  material,  as  grass  and  clover  do.  *  Some  plants 
will  decompose  stones,  and  hard  atoms  of  the  earth,  and 
thus  prepare  plant  food  for  its  own  use.  But  if  a  lib- 


THE   WHEAT   CDLTURIST.  67 

eral  supply  of  pabulum  has  not  been  prepared  by  the  vege- 
tation and  decay  of  other  plants,  the  young  wheat  plant 
fails  to  attain  its  wonted  size,  and  to  yield  its  accustom- 
ed amount  of  grain.  Growing  wheat  must  have  its  ap- 
propriate and  chosen  pabulum,  or  it  will  be  folly  to  at- 
tempt to  grow  this  kind  of  grain.  Wheat,  like  the 
grape,  must  and  will  have  mineral  food.  The  wheat 
plant  cannot  produce  fine  grain  out  of  coarse  straw  and 
barren  clods  of  earth. 


FORCE  IN  THE  YEGETATION  OF  WHEAT. 

The  exercise  of  force  in  the  production  of  the  wheat 
plant  is  an  idea  that  is  seldom  thought  of  by  farmers 
of  common  intelligence.  There  is  a  vital  force  exer- 
cised when  the  kernel  first  sends  out  the  germ  and  the 
roots  ;  and  this  force  is  constantly  exercised,  until  every 
plant  is  fully  developed  and  the  seed  matured.  It  is 
one  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  universe,  that  where 
there  is  motion  there  must  be  the  exercise  of  some 
force.  When  masons  build  a  house,  a  force  adequate  to 
the  erection  of  the  various  parts  of  the  edifice  must  be 
exerted  in  fitting  one  part  to  another  and  bringing 
everything  to  its  proper  place.  There  is  a  constant  ex- 
ercise of  force  against  the  force  of  gravitation,  until  the 
house  is  finished.  So  it  is  in  the  growth  of  a  wheat 
plant :  the  roots  must  be  formed,  and  the  stem  must  be 
produced  by  the  vital  force  of  the  growing  plant. 
There  is  great  force  exercised  by  the  plant  in  throwing 
out  numerous  roots,  sometimes  as  far  downward,  or  in 
a  horizontal  direction,  as  the  plumule,  or  stem,  grows 
upward. 

That  man  who  has  made  holes  in  the  ground  with  a 


68  THE    WHEAT   CULTTJRIST. 

crowbar,  understands  something  of  the  force  required  by 
plants  to  spread  through  the  hard  soil.  In  many  locali- 
ties a  wooden  staff  can  be  thrust  into  the  ground  three 
or  four  feet  deep,  with  a  very  little  force.  On  the  con- 
trary, in  most  localities,  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to 
work  a  crowbar  through  the  soil.  What  a  powerful 
force  must  necessarily  be  exerted,  then,  by  a  plant, 
in  pushing  its  roots  through  the  hard  soil.  "We  frequent- 
ly have  ocular  demonstration  of  the  force  exerted  by 
small  plants  and  trees.  It  is  a  common  occurrence, 
where  the  soil  is  heavy,  to  see  a  crust  of  earth,  that  is 
formed  over  the  growing  stems,  to  be  lifted  up,  so  that 
the  young  stems  appear  above  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
often  throwing  off  a  crust  of  earth  more  than  ten  times 
heavier  than  the  entire  plant  would  be,  were  both  weigh- 
ed in  a  balance.  Then,  there  is  the  exercise  of  a  con- 
stant force  to  keep  the  plant  in  an  erect  position.  In 
many  instances,  the  force  of  gravity  on  the  growing 
plant  exceeds  the  vital  force  exercised  in  developing  the 
various  parts  and  keeping  the  stem  erect.  When  this 
is  the  case,  stems  fall  to  the  ground  before  the  grain  has 
come  to  perfect  maturity.  We  frequently  see  the  effect 
of  the  operation  of  the  vital  force  of  a  tree,  the  growing 
roots  of  which  will  lift  heavy  flag-stones  of  the  side- 
walk several  inches  above  their  level  position  ;  and 
roots  of  trees  growing  near  dwelling-houses  frequently 
grow  along  the  foundation  wall  and  among  the  stones, 
and  damage  the  foundation  of  the  dwelling  to  such  an 
extent,  that  repairs  are  required. 

In  the  production  of  every  plant,  from  the  most  deli- 
cate spear  of  grass  to  the  towering  oaks  and  rocking 
pines  of  the  forest,  there  is  a  wonderful  effort  of  nature 
to  achieve  a  given  result.  The  numerous  fine  rootlet? 


THE   WHEAT    CTJLTTTRIST.  69 

and  the  tender  blades  are  met  by  opposing  f  rces.  If 
the  intelligent  husbandman  will  break  up  the  hard  soil, 
and  reduce  it  to  a  fine  and  mellow  tilth,  a  large  share  of 
the  vital  force  of  the  plant  that  is  used  up  in  pushing 
the  roots  and  stems  through  the  soil,  will  be  employed 
in  developing  the  stem,  leaves,  and  fruit. 

The  source  of  the  force  of  the  growing  wheat  plant, 
for  example,  is  the  substance  in  the  kernel.  If  the 
kernel  be  small,  of  course  the  vital  force  must  be  very 
limited.  For  this  reason,  tender  plants  cannot  nourish 
luxuriantly,  when  they  first  begin  to  live,  if  there  be 
'numerous  lumps  in  the  soil.  Hoots  of  tender  plants, 
like  wheat,  seldom  have  sufficient  force  to  enter  hard 
lumps  of  earth.  The  roots  will  pass  around  and 
between  them.  But,  as  hard  lumps  furnish  very  little 
plant  food  until  they  are  pulverized,  wheat  plants  ex- 
pend so  large  a  proportion  of  the  vital  force  in  perform- 
ing what  implements  of  husbandry  should  do,  that  but 
little  force  is  left  to  develop  and  mature  the  grain. 

Stevens,  in  the  Book  of  the  Farm,  states  that  the  force 
of  the  vegetation  of  a  single  seed  is  so  great  as  to  be 
able  to  raise  two  hundred  pounds,  as  has  been  proven  by 
the  process  being  made  to  split  hollow  balls  of  iron. 

PROLIFICACY  OF  WHEAT. 

The  prolificacy  of  our  cereals,  and  of  wheat  in  par- 
ticular, is  a  subject  that  has  been  seriously  neglected  for 
many  years  past,  even  by  those  who  have  a  reputation 
for  being  excellent  farmers.  Seed  wheat  should  be 
selected  every  successive  season,  with  a  direct  reference 
to  the  prolificacy  of  the  variety.  In  many  instances, 
thirty  bushels  of  grain  might  just  as  well  be  grown  on 


70  THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 

one  acre  as  fifteen,  with  the  same  cultivation  and  the 
same  fertilization.  When  wheat  is  in  the  path  of 
degeneracy,  the  best  soil  in  the  country,  the  most  favor- 
able season,  and  the  most  thorough  and  intelligent  culti- 
vation, will  fail  to  produce  a  remunerative  crop. 

Intelligent  breeders  of  swine  select  their  seed  animals 
with  an  especial  reference  to  the  prolificacy  of  the  dam 
that  will  raise  twelve  or  fourteen  pigs.  In  some  in- 
stances we  see  this  principle  neglected  or  entirely 
ignored.  And  wha.t  is  the  consequence?  Why,  instead 
of  twelve  or  fourteen  sleek,  plump,  and  thrifty  pigs,  the 
sow  drops  only  two  or  three  at  a  litter.  On  the  same 
principle,  we  often  see  short  heads  of  wTheat  only  half 
filled  with  small  kernels  of  grain,  when,  if  the  seed  had 
only  been  selected  with  a  reference  to  its  prolificacy, 
the  yield  would  have  been  twice  the  amount  realized. 

It  is  not  possible  for  any  one  to  compute  the  pecuniary 
advantage  that  would  accrue  to  our  nation,  were  all  the 
farmers  of  the  country  to  make  a  proper  selection  of  his 
seed  wheat  for  only  a  few.  successive  years.  There  is  a 
broad  and  inviting  field  open  on  this  subject,  for  every 
ambitious  farmer  to  exercise  his  skill  in  improving  the 
productiveness  of  our  wheat-growing  fields  by  produc- 
ing new  varieties  of  wheat  which  will  yield  large  heads 
and  plump  kernels  of  choice  grain.  The  prolificacy  of 
wheat  may  be  improved  to  a  wonderful  extent  by  proper 
management ;  and  if  a  prolific  variety  of  wheat  can  be 
brought  out,  that  will  yield  only  a  few  bushels  more  per 
acre  than  the  ordinary  varieties,  the  advantage  in  the 
aggregate  would  be  a  consideration  of  no  small  magni- 
tude. Dr.  Yoelcker,  in  a  recent  letter,  before  the  Royal 
Institution,  London,  stated  that  in  the  County  of  Norfolk 
the  average  produce  of  wheat  was,  in  1773,  fifteen 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTTJRIST.  71 

bushels  per  acre ;  in  1Y96,  twenty-eight  bushels  per 
acre;  in  1862,  thirty-two  to  thirty-six  bushels  per  acre 
— the  increase  being  due  to  drainage,  tillage,  and  to  the 
growth  of  improved  varieties. 

On  this  subject,  Hon.  Isaac  Newton,  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture,  says  :  "  A  new  variety  of  wheat  intro- 
duced into  a  district  has  in  some  instances  proved  of 
very  great  value.  It  is  said  that  the  product  of  one 
quart  of  a  variety  brought  from  North  Carolina  in  1845 
had  in  nine  years  benefited  the  farmers  of  Preble 
County,  Ohio,  alone,  more  than  $100,000  by  the  gain 
over  what  would  have  accrued  from  the  continued  use 
of  the  old  varieties." 

The  prolificacy  of  a  variety  can  be  determined  only 
by  experimenting  with  it,  from  year  to  year.  The  pro- 
lificacy of  grain  cannot  be  determined  by  the  appearance 
of  the  kernels,  any  sooner  than  one  can  select  a  prolific 
hen,  or  sow,  or  a  prolific  rabbit. 

LARGE  WHEAT  STORIES. 

I  have  observed,  for  a  few  years  past,  that  almost 
every  agricultural  journal  will  record  now  and  then  a 
fabulous  account  of  the  enormous  yields  of  wheat  per 
acre,  which  are  published  in  good  faith ;  but  which  are, 
in  reality,  in  numerous  instances,  unmitigated  false- 
hoods, originated  for  some  selfish  purpose.  I  regret  to 
feel  under  obligation  to  record  this  fact,  that  I  have  per- 
ceived with  astonishment  that  honest  and  truthful  men, 
whose  word  is  sacred  and  reliable  in  all  the  ordinary 
transactions  between  men  and  neighbors,  will  sometimes 
tell  stories  about  their  grain  which  are  really  untrue. 
They  do  not  mean  to  lie ;  but  the  fact  is,  they  think 


72  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

that  a  large  yield  of  grain  will  sound  well  for  their 
culture  as  skilful  farmers,  as  well  as  for  the  productive- 
ness of  their  ground.  Therefore,  they  think  and  guess 
that  there  may  possibly  be  so  many  bushels  of  grain 
per  acre.  By  and  by  they,  look  at  their  growing  crops, 
and  venture  to  speak  of  forty,  or  fifty,  or  seventy  bushels 
per  acre  $.  and  after  thinking  and  talking  about  the  mat- 
ter for  a  few  weeks,  they  make  the  confident  assertion 
that  their  ground  produced  so  many  bushels  per  acre, 
when  in  truth  the  yield  was  very  much  less  than  the 
quantity  mentioned.  I  will  record  a  few  facts  on  this 
subject  that  came  under  my  own  observation,  which  will 
go  to  show  that  honest  and  truthful  men  will  sometimes 
talk  at  random. 

I  knew  a  farmer  who  secured  the  prize  of  a  county 
agricultural  society  for  reporting  a  yield  of  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  bushels  of  shelled  Indian  corn  per  acre. 
The  grain  was  measured  thus:  A  bushel  basket  was 
filled  with  ears  as  neatly  as  they  could  be  placed  in  the 
basket.  Every  interstice  was  filled  with  a  part  of  an 
ear.  The  grain  was  then  shelled  oif  and  weighed. 
Taking  this  basketful  of  ears  as  the  basis,  in  pounds  of 
shelled  grain  for  every  bushel  of  ears  that  was  after- 
ward thrown  into  the  basket  promiscuously,  without 
shelling  or  weighing,  the  yield  of  grain  was  computed 
at  the  amount  just  stated.  The  laborer  who  husked  the 
corn  disclosed  the  manner  of  measuring  and  computing 
the  amount  of  grain. 

I  have  known  other  farmers  to  state,  in  the  most  posi- 
tive language,  that  they  raised  sixty  bushels  of  barley 
per  acre,  and  sixty  bushels  of  rye,  or  forty  or  fifty  bush 
els  of  wheat  per  acre,  when  they  had  not  measured  a 
single  bushel  of  the  grain  that  grew  on  an  acre ;  and 


THE    WHEAT    CULTTJRIST.  73 

this  lias  been  done,  too,  when  I  knew  that  their  fields 
never  produced  more  than  about  one-half  the  reported 
quantity.  I  have  known  farmers,  who  had  gained  a 
great  reputation  for  raising  excellent  wheat,  write  to 
editors  of  their  county  papers  or  to  certain  agricultural 
journals  that  their  crop  would  yield  so  many  bushels  of 
grain — an  enormous  product — when  their  neighbors 
knew  that  they  did  not  raise  a  greater  number  of  bush- 
els per  acre  than  were  produced  on  other  farms. 

I  once  purchased  a  quantity  of  seed  rye  of  a  distant 
neighbor,  who  published  that  his  rye  yielded  sixty  bush- 
els of  superior  grain  per  acre  ;  and  I  learned  the  next 
season  that,  to  all  appearance,  his  yield  of  rye  was  no 
larger  than  my  own,  which  was  less  than  twenty-five 
bushels  per  acre.  Only  a  few  days  ago,  I  read  of  a 
farmer  who  raised  seventy-two  bushels  of  excellent  wheat 
per  acre.  But  I  never  could  credit  the  statement.  Men 
sometimes  count  the  heads  of  wheat  that  grew  on  one 
foot  square  of  very  fertile  ground,  weigh  the  grain,  and 
make  an  estimate  how  many  bushels  will  grow  on  one 
acre.  But  the  true  way  is  to  harvest,  thrash,  and  weigh 
the  grain  that  actually  grew  on  one  acre. 

It  would  seem,  that  if  a  farmer  can  raise  a  given  quan- 
tity of  wheat  on  one  foot  square,  he  could  produce  a 
yield  proportionately  large  on  one  acre.  But  let  us  have 
the  exact  weight  of  grain  that  was  actually  produced  on 
one  acre.  These  airy  estimates  of  a  large  yield,  which 
are  got  up  for  some  pecuniary  effect,  are  not  the  true 
motive  to  induce  farmers  to  cultivate  their  ground  in  a 
more  thorough  manner. 

I  have  in  mind  a  farmer,  who  stated  positively  and 
unqualifiedly,  that  he  was  raising  cabbages  on  his  farm 
at  the  rate  of  10,890  per  acre.  He  said  he  had  less  than 

4 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

acre ;  but  what  he  did  have  "  was  " — not  were — • 
large  enough  to  fill  a  half-bushel  measure.  As  he  was 
a  man  of  truth,  a  person  was  sent  to  see  his  cabbages. 
He  had  one  cabbage  in  his  garden,  and  only  one  ! !  By 
an  arithmetical  calculation,  it  was  found  that,  as  there 
are  2T2J  square  feet  in  one  square  rod,  if  one  large  head 
would  occupy  only  four  square  feet,  10,890  cabbages 
would  stand  on  one  acre.  So  the  man  could  not  be  ac- 
cused of  stating  an  untruth. 

Farmers  who  have  seed  wheat  to  sell  will  frequently 
state  that  their  seed  grain  weighs  so  many  pounds  per 
bushel,  or  that  so  many  bushels  grew  on  one  acre ;  all 
of  which  may  be  true.  But  measures  often  vary  in  size. 
Scales  sometimes  weigh  too  many  pounds  in  a  hundred. 
And,  besides  all  this,  if  a  variety  of  wheat  does  weigh 
66  Ibs.  per  sealed  bushel,  on  John  Smith's  farm,  his 
neighbor,  near  by,  or  remote,  cannot  expect  to  secure  an 
equal  yield,  unless  his  soil  and  cultivation  are  both  fully 
equal  to  John  Smith's. 

I  make  these  suggestions  that  beginners  need  not  ex- 
pect to  grow  a  heavy  crop  of  grain  on  inferior  land, 
when  they  have  paid  an  enormous  price  for  celebrated 
seed. 


HARD,  SOFT,  AND  POLISH  WHEATS. 

Some  botanists  have  divided  wheats  into  different 
species,  from  some  marked  peculiarity  in  their  formation. 
Others,  considering  that  they  mostly  form  hybrids  when 
mixed  in  the  sowing,  and  that  their  peculiarities  vary 
with  the  soil  and  climate,  have  looked  upon  all  the  cul- 
tivated wheats  as  mere  varieties.  There  are,  however, 
three  principal  varieties,  so  different  in  appearance  that 


THE    WHEAT    CULTTTRIST.  75 

they  claim  peculiar  attention.  These  are  the  hard  or 
flint  wheats,  the  soft  wheats,  and  the  Polish  wheats. 
The  hard  wheats  are  the  produce  of  warm  climates,  such 
as  Italy,  Sicily,  and  Barbary.  The  soft  wheats  grow  in 
the  northern  parts  of  Europe.  The  Polish  wheats  grow 
in  the  country  from  which  they  derive  their  name,  and 
are  also  hard  wheats.  It  is  from  their  external  form 
that  they  are  distinguished  from  other  wheats.  The 
hard  wheats  have  a  compact  seed  nearly  transparent, 
which,  when  bitten  through,  breaks  short,  and  shows  a 
very  white  flour  within.  The  soft  wheats  have  an  opaque 
coat  or  skin,  and  which,  when  first  reaped,  give  way 
readily  to  the  pressure  of  the  finger  and  thumb.  These 
wheats  require  to  be  well  dried  and  hardened  before  they 
can  be  conveniently  ground  into  flour.  The  Polish 
wheat  has  a  chaff  which  is  much  longer  than  the  seed, 
a  large,  oblong,  hard  seed,  and  an  ear  cylindrical  in  ap- 
pearance. It  is  a  delicate  spring  wheat,  and  not  very 
productive ;  hence  it  has  only  been  occasionally  culti- 
vated by  way  of  experiment. 

"  The  hard  wheats  contain  much  more  gluten,  a  tough, 
viscid  substance,  which  is  very  nutritious,  and  which, 
containing  a  portion  of  nitrogen,  readily  promotes  that 
fermentation,  or  rising,  as  it  is  called,  of  the  dough, 
which  is  essential  to  good,  light  bread.  The  soft  wheats 
contain  the  greatest  quantity  of  starch,  which  fits  them 
for  the  vinous  fermentation,  by  its  conversion  into  sugar 
and  alcohol.  For  brewing  or  distilling,  therefore,  the 
soft  wheats  are  the  best." 

LIMIT  OF  THE  WHEAT-PBODUCTNG  REGION. 

.  A  great  deal  has  been  written  in  regard  to  the  cli- 
matic influences  on  the  wheat  crop ;  and  I  am  sorry  to 


76  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

say  that,  for  the  most  part,  theories  touching  wheat 
have  been  promulgated  from  year  to  year,  by  men  who 
never  raised  a  bushel  of  wheat,  and  who  were  utterly 
ignorant  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  agriculture. 
On  this  subject,  I  herewith  copy  a  few  paragraphs  from 
a  work  written  by  J.  Disturnell,  on  the  Influence  of 
Climate,  for  the  purpose  of  showing  how  common  it  is 
for  writers  to  reiterate,  for  well-established  facts,  cer- 
tain theories  that  are  palpable  absurdities.  The  writer 
says: 

"  The  limits  of  the  culture  of  wheat  and  the  common 
cereal i a  are  not  so  well  denned  in  the  United  States,  and 
Canada  and  other  portions  of  British  America,  owing  to 
the  want  of  correct  meteorological  observations  in  the 
different  parts  of  this  extensive  and  unexplored  region. 
It  is  safe,  however,  to  say,  that  in  Canada  it  extends 
north  as  far  as  the  48th  parallel  of  latitude,  from  the 
Bay  of  Chaleurs  to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenay 
River,  and  from  thence  to  the  Lake  St.  John,  48  deg. 
30  min.  north,  including  the  valley  of  Lake  Temiscaming 
and  all  the  head  sources  of  the  Ottawa  River,  extending 
to  Michicopoten  Bay,  situated  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake 
Superior,  47  deg.  50  min.  N.  lat.,  having  a  mean  summer 
temperature  of  59  deg.  Fahr. 

"  To  the  west  of  Lake  Superior  it  embraces  the  valley 
of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  on  the  49th  parallel,  running 
northward  and  embracing  the  whole  of  the  valley  of 
Lake  Winnipeg,  elevated  700  feet  above  the  ocean  ;  and 
the  great  valley  of  the  Saskatchewan  River,  extending 
still  further  northward  to  the  60th  parallel  of  north 
latitude,  in  the  valley  of  Mackenzie's  River.  To  the 
west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  the  northern  part  of 
British  Columbia,  and  on  the  Island  of  Sitka,  57  deg. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  77 

north  latitude,  the  culture  of  wheat  and  other  centals  is 
prevented,  owing  to  the  low  summer  temperature  which 
exists  along  the  northwest  coast  of  America. 

"  On  the  south,  wheat  can  be  raised  profitably  in  the 
western  portion  of  Texas  and  Arkansas,  commencing  at 
about  the  30th  parallel  of  latitude,  excluding  the  Gulf 
Coast,  where  cotton  nourishes  to  great  perfection.  Thus 
it  appears  evident  that  wheat  can  be  raised  to  advantage 
from  Texas  to  the  British  possessions  on  Mackenzie's 
River,  running  through  about  one- third  of  the  distance 
from  the  Equator  to  the  North  Pole,  and  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

"  The  harvesting  of  wheat  through  this  extensive  belt 
may  be  said  to  commence  in  the  latter  part  of  May,  and 
continue  until  the  latter  part  of  August.  '  It  is  said  that 
the  ripening  of  the  "  staff  of  life  "  will  move  steadily 
northward  about  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  per  day,  like 
a  wave,  until  it  sweeps  up  to  the  northern  margin  of  the 
great  wheat  belt.  A  marching  regiment  in  Texas,  start- 
ing for  the  north,  could  barely  keep  before  the  ripening 
wave ;  and  if  they  halted  a  day  to  rest,  it  would  pass  them. 
This  wave  stretches  east  and  west  across  the  Union, 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  confines  of  Kansas,  and  as  it 
moves  north  it  will  grow  longer  and  denser.'  Minne- 
sota, extending  northward  to  the  49th  parallel  of  latitude, 
is  one  of  the  finest  wheat-growing  regions  on  the  con- 
tinent. Indian  corn  also  flourishes  in  the  valley  of  the 
Red  River  of  the  North,  which  empties  into  Lake  Win- 
nipeg in  about  50  deg.  north  latitude. 

"  The  northern  limit  of  wheat  on  the  American  con- 
tinent may  be  said  to  be  on  the  line  of  the  isothermal  or 
mean  summer  temperature  of  58  deg.  Fahr.,  where  is 
found  a  fertile  soil ;  while  Indian  corn  requires  a  mean 


78  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

summer  temperature  of  66  deg.  Fahr.  and  upward,  em- 
bracing a  still  larger  area  of  the  earth's  surface  for  its 
growth  than  that  of  wheat. 

"  In  Europe,  on  the  coast  of  Norway,  and  in  Finland, 
wheat  is  raised  as  far  north  as  61  deg.,  in  favored  spots ; 
while  the  hardier  cerealia,  rye,  oats,  and  barley,  are  cul- 
tivated as  high  as  68  deg.  north  latitude. 

"  The  growth  of  grass  or  hay  as  an  article  of  commerce 
is  less  limited  than  wheat  or  the  other  cereals.  It  may 
be  said  to  nourish  from  the  38th  to  the  45th  parallels  of 
latitude,  although  its  limits  in  perfection  are  much  less 
extensive.  The  belt  included  within  the  parallels  of  39 
to  43  north,  within  the  United  States,  having  a  mean 
annual  temperature  from  47  deg.  to  53  deg.  Fahr.,  is  its 
most  favorite  region,  where  are  produced  the  largest 
quantities,  and  the  best  quality  of  butter  and  cheese. 
South  of  39  deg.  north  latitude,  except  in  elevated  re- 
gions, grass  is  of  an  inferior  quality,  and  not  much  cul- 
tivated. In  importance,  as  regards  its  value  as  an  article 
of  commerce,  it  vies  with  the  product  of  either  wheat, 
Indian  corn,  or  cotton." 

ABSURDITIES  EXPOSED. 

I  have  great  respect  for  historians  and  literary  char- 
acters, who  have  forgotten  more  than  I  ever  expect  to 
know  about  certain  things.  But,  when  they  write  about 
wheat,  I  happen  to  know  wThen  they  assert  facts  that 
can  always  be  relied  on,  or  whether  their  suggestions 
are  merely  assertions  which  can  never  be  shown  to  be 
correct ;  and  which  are  not  in  perfect  coincidence  with 
the  experience  of  practical  wheat-growers. 

When  I  was  young,  farmers  were  accustomed  to  state 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  79 

that  wheat  could  not  be  produced  on  the  slopes  of  the 
lakes  in  Central  New  York.  But  now,  experiments  in 
raising  wheat  have  shown  that  the  clay  loams  of  those 
localities  yield  the  finest  wheat.  If  there  is  any  wheat 
in  the  country,  fair  crops,  with  good  management,  can 
always  be  found  there. 

Rye  was  the  great  staple  in  the  line  of  cereal  grain, 
in  New  England,  so  far  as  farmers  were  accustomed  to 
raise  grain.  Consequently,  if  a  farmer  provided  wheat 
bread  for  his  family,  he  bought  his  flour,  at  an  enor- 
mous price;  because  the  impression  was  that  wheat 
w^ould  not  grow  there.  I  have  in  mind  large  numbers 
of  farmers,  who  purchase  all  their  wheat  flour,  simply 
because  they  have  imbibed  the  erroneous  notion  that 
wheat  cannot  be  grown  in  Connecticut  and  other  New 
England  States. 

Wheat  will  not  grow,  it  is  very  true,  where  no  seed 
has  been  sowed.  Neither  will  apples  grow  in  many  of 
the  Western  States  and  Territories,  where  people  affirm 
that  they  cannot  raise  apples.  The  true  reason  is,  they 
fail  to  give  apples  a  chance  to  grow.  They  do  not  plant 
trees,  and  give  them  suitable  cultivation.  And  it  is 
precisely  so  with  wheat.  It  will  not  grow  where  the 
soil  is  not  cultivated  and  kept  in  an  excellent  state  of 
fertility.  I  have  no  confidence  at  all  in  the  "  climat- 
ology theory,"  that  wTheat  will  grow  only  in  certain 
localities.  As  a  general  rule,  where  other  grain  and  sheep 
succeed  satisfactorily,  fair  crops  of  wheat  can  be  raised, 
if  the  soil  be  enriched  with  the  manure  of  fattening 
sheep,  neat  cattle,  or  fattening  swine.  Wheat  can  be 
raised  on  the  drifting  sands  of  New  Jersey,  in  boun- 
tiful crops,  if  the  soil  be  prepared  properly  for  the 


80  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  ITALIAN  WHEAT. 

In  the  volume  of  Transactions  of  the  New  York  State 
Agricultural  Society  for  1841,  Jay  Hatheway,  Oneida 
County,  New  York,  has  recorded  facts  touching  the 
introduction  of  this  variety  of  wheat,  from  which  the 
following  extracts  are  taken  :  "  The  Italian  spring  wheat 
possesses  a  property  which  no  other  variety  of  this  kind 
of  grain  can  claim — that  of  growing  well  and  yielding 
a  fair  crop  of  grain  upon  land  so  poor,  that  no  other 
variety  will  succeed  satisfactorily.  On  inferior  land, 
twelve  to  fifteen  bushels  of  good  grain  have  been  grown 
per  acre.  On  good  ground,  thirty  bushels  per  acre  have 
been  grown ;  and  on  the  best  wheat  land  the  yield  has 
reached  from  forty  to  fifty  bushels  per  acre.  The  orig- 
inal seed  weighed  sixty-three  pounds  per  bushel ;  and  the 
first  crop  was  sown  in  this  country  in  1832. 

"  This  kind  of  wheat  has  a  bright  lemon-colored  straw, 
which  gives  the  entire  crop  a  beautiful  appearance  when 
the  wheat  is  growing.  The  kernels  have  a  thin  skin  of 
a  bright  brown  color ;  and  from  a  given  quantity  of 
grain,  more  flour  may  be  obtained  than  from  any  other 
kind  of  grain  grown  in  this  country.  The  flour  makes 
excellent  bread ;  and  some  have  stated  that  flour  made 
of  this  kind  of  wheat  contains  more  gluten  than  other 
kinds  of  flour.  It  is  said  that  in  Italy  the  manufac- 
turers of  macaroni  prefer  this  kind  of  wheat  for  making 
this  article  of  food. 

"  This  kind  of  wheat  was  first  introduced  into  this 
country  by  a  gentleman  from  Florence,  in  Italy,  who, 
marrying  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  his  father,  was 
denounced  and  disinherited ;  and  smarting  under  the 
severity  and  reproaches  of  an  incensed  parent,  he  re- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  81 

solved  to  emigrate  to  America,  and  to  engage  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits.  He  brought  with  him  a  tierce  of 
seed  Italian  wheat  to  the  town  of  Florence,  Oneida 
County,  New  York,  where  it  was  used  for  seed  with 
excellent  satisfaction  for  a  few  years ;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  injudicious  management  in  saving  seed  grain 
from  year  to  year,  this  variety  failed  to  yield  satisfac- 
tory crops." 

Some  allowance  must  be  made  for  an  enthusiastic 
writer  of  the  foregoing  account  of  Italian  wheat,  as  every 
skilful  farmer  knows  that  no  variety  of  wheat  that  ever 
had  an  existence  would  yield  forty  or  fifty  bushels  of 
grain  on  poor  ground.  This  variety  failed  entirely  in 
some  parts  of  the  country,  from  no  other  cause  than  the 
one  alluded  to — negligence  in  saving  the  seed  from  year 
to  year.  With  injudicious  management  on  the  part  of 
farmers  in  saving  seed  grain,  the  best  variety  of  grain 
that  was  ever  known  would  soon  run  out. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  WHEAT. 

A  good  variety  of  wheat  is  capable  of  being  greatly 
improved,  provided  the  soil  is  of  the  right  character, 
and  very  fertile  in  wheat-producing  elements.  When  a 
man  sows  a  small  plot  of  wheat  in  his  garden  which  has 
always  been  abundantly  manured,  so  that  the  soil  is 
well  fattened  with  such  fertilizing  material  as  will  make 
long  heads  and  full  and  plump  kernels,  he  is  utterly  sur- 
prised at  the  success  of  his  experiment  in  a  limited  wa}r. 
He  concludes  that  his  unprecedented  success  must  be 
attributed  to  the  variety ,  when  almost  everything  is  or 
was  attributable  to  superior  cultivation  and  fertilization 

of  the  soil.     A  vast  deal  depends  on  having  a  variety, 

4* 


82  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

the  characteristics  of  which  are  well  established.  Yet, 
if  the  cultivation  be  inferior,  the  cultivator  will  most 
assuredly  reap  the  bitter  fruits  of  disappointment  in  his 
efforts  to  produce  a  large  yield  of  grain. 

I  herewith  condense  an  interesting  account  of  experi- 
ments made  in  the  Old  World  by  Mr.  Hallett,  of 
Brighton.  I  will  point  out  to  young  farmers — as  well 
as  to  old  ones — certain  points  in  which  this  gentle- 
man as  well  as  all  others  will  fall,  as  the  premises  are 
wrong. 

Mr.  Hallett's  first  idea  was  to  increase  the  tiller- 
ing power  of  wheat,  so  that  less  seed  would  be  needed. 
That  is  all  well  enough,  provided  the  soil  is  sufficiently 
rich  to  furnish  an  abundant  supply  of  plant  food  for  a 
large  number  of  stems.  If  a  plant  of  wheat  be  induced 
by  any  possible  means  to  tiller  largely,  and  the  land  be 
too  poor  to  supply  nourishment  sufficient  to  develop 
such  a  large  number  of  stems,  the  heads  must  be  short 
and  kernels  of  grain  small.  On  this  same  principle,  it 
will  be  found  to  be  more  profitable  to  grow  only  one 
large  ear  of  Indian  corn  on  a  single  stalk,  where  the 
land  is  not  sufficiently  rich  to  develop  two,  than  to 
attempt  to  produce  two  ears,.. as  they  would  necessarily 
be  small.  Yet,  if  the  soil  be  so  well  fattened  that  there 
is  sufficient  pabulum  to  build  up  and  to  develop  two 
large  ears  on  a  stalk,  let  that  variety  be  planted.  It 
will  be  folly  to  develop  the  habit  of  tillering  in  any 
kind  of  grain,  unless  the  fertility  of  the  soil  be  improved 
at  the  same  time.  Mr.  Hallett  proposed  to  improve  the 
tillering  characteristic  by  early  seeding. 

His  next  purpose  was  to  increase  the  length  of  the 
ears  and  the  number  of  kernels  of  grain  in  every  head. 
This  he  proposed  to  accomplish  by  careful  selection,  and 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  83 

by  what  he  has  styled  "  careful  breeding."  How  far  he 
has  been  successful  the  result  clearly  shows. 

As  a  starting  point,  in  the  fall  of  1857  he  selected 
two  heads  of  "  nursery  wheat,"  coming  as  near  as  pos- 
sible up  to  his  standard  of  what  a  head  of  wheat  should 
be.  The  grains  of  these  two  heads  were  kept  separate 
and  carefully  dibbled  in,  one  grain  in  a  place,  nine  inches 
apart.  Of  one  head  the  best  grain  produced  ten  stalks, 
with  heads  varying  from  seventy-nine  to  fifty-live  grains, 
or  a  total  of  688  grains.  The  finest  ten  ears,  selected 
from  the  product  of  the  other  head,  contained  from 
seventy  'to  fifty-one  grains,  and  a  total  of  598  grains. 
Of  the  two  original  ears,  one  contained  43,  and  the 
other  44  grains,  showing  a  gain  of  from  30  to  36  grains. 

ISText  year  the  best  head  from  the  first-mentioned  ear 
was  planted  as  before.  From  this  the  best  grain  pro- 
duced 21  heads,  containing  from  91  to  55  grains  per 
head,  or  in  all  1,190.  The  best  random  head  of  the 
other  ear  was  also  planted ;  but  it  was  thrown  out  as 
being  evidently  inferior  to  the  others. 

From  this,  Hallett  deduces  the  first  proof  of  the  cor- 
rectness of  his  idea  that  careful  breeding  and  cultiva- 
tion was  correct,  and  not  the  random  selection  of  good 
specimens. 

During  the  fall  of  1859,  the  best  head  as  above,  con- 
taining 91  grains,  and  the  worst,  containing  65  grains, 
were  separately  planted.  The  best  grain  of  the  former 
produced  39  ears,  containing  2,145  grains ;  but,  owing  to 
the  extraordinary  season  of  1861,  they  were  so  injured 
by  the  wet  that  the  two  best  ears,  containing  respectively 
74  and  71  grains,  were  the  only  ones  sufficiently  unin- 
jured to  carry  on  the  experiment ;  so  that  the  head  con- 
taining 74  grains  was  selected  to  carry  on  the  expert- 


84  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

ment,  not  because  of  the  number  of  its  grains — for 
there  was  a  falling  off  in  this  respect  from  the  previous 
year — but  because  of  the  increased  tillering  power. 

As  before  stated,  in  1859,  the  worst  grain  from  the 
best^ar  was  planted.  It  yielded  15  ears,  containing  from 
87  to  61  grains,  or  1,086  in  all.  In  1860  the  best  ear  of 
this  sample  was  taken,  and  produced  1,909  grains  from 
24  heads,  containing  from  123  to  50  grains.  This  brings 
our  account  up  to  1860 ;  and  as  the  original  stock  had 
been  injured,  Hallett  started  afresh  from  the  last-men- 
tioned head,  the  best  grain  of  which  produced  24  ears, 
the  best  one  of  which  contained  123  grains.  In  1861 
the  best  grain  produced  80  heads,  the  best  one  of  which 
contained  132  grains. 

Let  us  now  note  Hallett's  improvement :  In  1857  his 
shortest  head  was  4|-  inches  long,  contained  44  grains, 
and  gave  10  ears  from  the  best  stool.  In  1862  his  best 
ear  was  9^  inches  long,  contained  132  grains,  and  the 
best  grain  produced  90  heads  or  stalks  on  one  stool. 
One  peculiarity  in  his  culture  is  the  small  amount  of 
'seed  used.  In  his  field  culture,  where  the  planting  is 
necessarily  done  by  machinery,  he  uses  but  four  bushels 
on  ten  acres.  In  his  large  experimental  plots  lie  uses 
seed  at  the  rate  of  but  one  bushel  on  ten  acres,  and 
plants  by  hand  in  squares  of  nine  inches.  lie  is  a 
strong  advocate  of  early  seeding,  and  puts  his  field 
crops  in,  in  September ;  4  bushels  on  8  acres,  for  the 
first  half  of  the  next  month,  and  4  bushels  on  6  acres 
for  the  latter  half ;  4  bushels  oil  4  acres  for  the  month 
after,,  and  4  bushels  on  3  acres  for  the  last  month  in  the 
year.  If  used  as  a  spring  wheat,  he  advises  that  it 
should  be  put  on  at  the  rate  of  4  bushels  on  2^  acres. 
These  directions  are  for  drill  culture,  and  is  much 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  85 

heavier  seeding   than   he   practises  when  planting  by 
hand  on  his  own  estate. 

His  experiments  clearly  show  the  tillering  power  of 
not  only  his  own  wheat,  but  of  any  wheat,  where  space 
is  allowed  for  it  to  accomplish  this  important  part  of  its 
growth.  One  grain  from  the  best  ear  of  1861  was 
planted  by  itself  on  well-prepared  ground,  so  that  its 
tillering  powers  should  be  unimpeded  by  competition. 
The  result  was  that,  after  the  produce  of  this  single 
grain  was  removed,  the  stubble  covered  an  area  five 
feet  in  diameter,  with  84  ears  averaging  7-J-  inches  in 
Jength. 

GRP:AT  YIELD  OF  ONE  KERNEL. 

"  In  order  to  show  how  soon  the  product  of  a  single 
grain  of  wheat  may  be  increased,  I  make  the  following 
extracts  from  Hallett's  pen  :  '  From  one  grain  planted 
September,  1859, 1  shall  this  year,  September,  1861,  drill 
forty  acres.  A  whole  ear  in  1859  would  have  planted 
eighty  times  as  much.' 

"  '  I  can  show  you  a  field  of  seven  acres  now  up, 
which  was  in  one  grain  two  years  ago,  and  one  acre 
which  was  in  one  ear  this  day  one  year  ago.  In  Sep- 
tember last  (1861)  I  drilled  thirty  acres  with  thirty 
pecks  of  seed.  This  is  now,  September  30th,  well  up, 
and  the  plants  as  thick  as  I  could  wish.' 

"  Inasmuch  as  Hallett's  success  in  England  is  very 
different  from  a  trial  in«this  country,  I  will  give  the 
result  of  my  own  trial  for  three  years  past :  In  1864, 
two  weeks  before  the  end  of  the  year,  I  received  my 
seed  direct  from  Hallett's  farm  at  Brighton.  It  should 
have  arrived  sooner,  but  owing  to  causes  over  which 


8(3  THE   WHEAT   CULTUE1ST. 

lie  had  no  control,  it  was  delayed.  The  next  day  a 
thaw  ensued,  and  I  was  enabled  to  stir  up  the  mud  in 
one  corner  of  my  garden  to  the  depth  of  three  inches, 
when  I  came  to  frost.  A  small  portion  of  the  wheat 
was  put  in,  one  grain  in  a  place,  six  inches  square.  Of 
course  it  made  no  show  until  spring,  when  it  came  up 
early ;  but  not  very  thickly,  though  it  tillered  out  so 
that  the  number  of  stalks  varied  from  eleven  on  the 
best,  to  five  on  the  worst  stool.  It  did  not  all  grow, 
and  future  experiment  demonstrated  that  about  sixty- 
five  per  cent,  was  injured  in  its  passage  across  the  ocean. 
The  remainder  was  planted  in  the  fall  of  1865,  just 
before  our  regular  seeding  time ;  and  one  quarter  of  an 
acre  planted  came  up  in  about  the  above  proportion ; 
that  is,  about  thirty-five  grains  out  of  every  hundred 
grew.  This  was  truly  a  dull  prospect,  and  was  made 
more  so  from  the  fact  that  the  midge  injured  the  grain 
of  what  did  grow.  Early  in  the  fall  of  1866  we  planted 
some  of  the  best  of  our  own  seed  as  thinly  as  our  drill 
would  put  it  on — say  one  bushel  to  four  acres ;  and 
'having  some  of  our  imported  seed  left,  we  put  a  portion 
of  it  in,  alongside  of  that  of  our  own*  growth,  at  the 
same  rate,  without  any  allowance  for  injured  grains  in 
either  case.  At  this  time  the  difference  is  in  favor  of 
our  own  seed,  it  being  quite  as  thick  as  our  regular  wheat 
on  another  part  of  the  farm,  while  that  from  the  im- 
ported seed  makes  but  little  show,  nor  should  we  reason- 
ably expect  much  from  wheat  seeded  at  the  rate  of  six- 
teen pounds  per  acre,  and  buj;  thirty-five  per  cent,  of 
this  to  grow.  Those  who  have  tried  to  acclimatize 
foreign  wheat  know  that  it  cannot  be  done  in  one  or  two 
years.  Thus  far  my  experience  confirms  Hallett's  idea 
that  by  i  breeders '  he  has  fixed  the  peculiar  type  of 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST.  87 

his  wheat;  for  under  the  unfavorable  circumstances  of 
our  first  trial  the  best  head  was  5f  inches  long,  and  in 
the  second  one  6  inches  long." — Cultivator. 

I  cannot  forbear  to  allude  to  the  disappointment 
which  scores  of  farmers  have  experienced  after  having 
purchased  improved  varieties  of  wheat,  at  fabulous 
prices,  of  those  farmers  who  had  made  their  ground  as 
rich  as  it  could  consistently  be  rendered  by  rich  manure. 
In  this  manner,  by  careful  selection  and  judicious  culti- 
vation, they  have  accomplished  wonders  in  respect  to 
large  and  long  heads  and  plump  and  a  large  number  of 
kernels.  On  the  contrary,  slack  farmers,  who  never 
half-cultivate  their  land,  have  sowed  such  choice  grain, 
and  produced  wonders  in  the  line  of  small  ears  and 
diminutive  kernels. 

Every  farmer  who  has  any  idea  of  growing  wheat 
should  experiment,  in  a  small  way,  with  the  seed  in  his 
garden,  where  the  soil  is  very  rich.  I  can  record  nothing 
that  will  be  so  effectual  in  accomplishing  just  what 
should  be  done,  and  what  wheat  really  requires,  as  a  few 
well-conducted  experiments  for  improving  the  excel- 
lence of  the  seed. 


88  THE  WHEAT  CULTURIST. 

THE  NOMENCLATURE  OF  WHEAT. 

Wheat  hybridizes  so  readily,  and  -varieties  fose  their 
identity  in  so  short  a  period  of  time,  that  farmers  are 
in  doubt,  whenever  a  given  variety  of  wheat  is  spoken 
of,  whether  they  really  understand  what  kind  of  wheat 
they  are  talking  or  reading  about,  or  not.  I  have  ob- 
served that  wheat,  which  is  raised  and  said  to  be  of  a 
given  variety  in  one  section  of  the  country,  is  so  differ- 
ent from  it  in  another  State,  that  when  compared,  side 
by  side,  the  grain  is  quite  as  different  as  two  distinct 
varieties.  The  old  "  Bald  Wheat,"  which  was  once — 
say  about  the  year  1830 — one  of  the  finest  varieties  of 
wheat  that  was  ever  cultivated,  lost  its  identity  in  a  few 
years,  by  being  allowed  to  hybridize  with  other  varie- 
ties. The  same  is  true  of  many  other  varieties.  In 
some  sections  of  the  country,  varieties  of  wheat  that 
were  originally  awnless,  have  some  awns  or  beards  ;  and 
certain  varieties  which  were  known  as  bearded  or  awned 
varieties,  became  partially  bald.  Under  these  circum- 
' stances,  one  feels  like  a  man  pursuing  his  course  in  an 
unknown,  dubious,  and  uncertain  way.  If  our  Govern- 
ment possessed  sufficient  authority  and  influence  to  take 
hold  of  this  subject  in  a  proper  manner,  and  establish  a 
common  standard  of  merit  and  an  intelligible  descrip- 
tion of  each  variety,  and  keep  every  variety  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  year  to  year,  farmers  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  would  be  supplied  with  some  reliable  guide  in 
the  selection  of  the  various  desirable  varieties  of  wheat. 

Now,  why  should  farmers  not  have  standard  varieties 
of  grain  at  Washington,  by  which  to  compare  the  varie* 
ties  of  grain  produced  on  their  own  farms  ?  It  appears 
to  me  that  if  our  Government  would  establish  some 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  »9 

standard  in  relation  to  wheat,  to  which  the  farmers, 
north,  south,  east,  and  west,  could  look  for  reliable  in- 
formation, there  would  not  be  so  much  confusion  in 
regard  to  the  varieties  of  wheat  which  are  worthy  of 
cultivation. 

For  example:  Some  competent  person  should  be 
authorized  to  collect  several  heads  of  all  the  improved  and 
approved  varieties,  from  numerous  sections  of  the  coun- 
try; and  then  select  a  few  ears  of  each  variety,  and 
place  them  in  glass  cases,  where  farmers  could  see  them 
and  compare  their  own  grain  with  the  standard  samples 
at  headquarters.  Besides  this,  every  variety  should  be 
neatly  illustrated  by  an  accurate  engraving  of  one  of 
the  standard  ears  of  grain ;  and  accompanying  each 
illustration  should  be  an  intelligible  and  plain  descrip- 
tion of  every  variety.  Were  I  the  authority  in  the 
United  States,  I  would  do  the  same  thing  in  this  treatise. 
But  were  I  to  attempt  it,  my  efforts  would  only  increase 
the  confusion  in  regard  to  the  varieties  of  wheat,  as  my 
illustrations  and  descriptions  of  certain  varieties,  which 
might  be  quite  correct  in  a  given  locality,  would  not 
coincide  with  grain  of  those  names  in  other  sections  of 
the  country. 

To  illustrate  still  further  the  extreme  difficulty  of 
attempting  to  do  anything  correctly,  by  way  of  estab- 
lishing the  identity  of  any  variety  of  grain,  the  reader 
must  remember  that  the  author  of  this  treatise  may 
give  an  illustration  and  description  of  numerous  varie- 
ties of  wheat,  which  are  well  known  in  some  States, 
but  which  may  be  very  unlike  them  all  in  other  States. 
This  difference  should  be  settled  by  some  authority 
which  the  whole  country  will  respect  and  receive  as 
correct. 


90  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


OF  VARIETIES. 

I  purposed,  when  I  commenced  writing  this  book,  to 
record  the  name  of  every  variety  of  wheat  that  I  could 
hear  of.  But,  when  I  met  with  the  long  list  of  names 
in  the  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Experimental 
Farm,  Washington,  in  the  Department  of  Agriculture, 
for  1865,  I  felt  so  thoroughly  disgusted  with  names,  that 
I  at  once  abandoned  the  idea  of  presenting  the  reader 
with  a  list  of  the  numerous  varieties  of  wheat.  I  will 
give  a  few,  simply  t'o  show  what  intolerable  jaw-breakers 
some  men  will  employ,  when  a  monosyllable,  that  any- 
body could  remember  without  difficulty,  and  which  a 
child  could  speak,  would  be  ten  thousand  times  better 
in  every  respect.  Here  they  are :  Frumento  Andriolo 
Esastico  Rosso ;  Tauntondean ;  Flickling's  Hallet's 
Genealogical;  Schonermark's ;  Canadischer  and  Wiez- 
acker ! 

There  is  another  consideration  touching  the  names  of 
the  different  varieties  of  wheat  which  has  induced  me 
to  omit  names,  which  is  this :  Wheat  bearing  the  same 
name,  which  has  been  produced  on  different  kinds  of 
soil,  will  frequently  be  as  unlike  as  two  distinct  varie- 
ties, even  when  both  samples  grew  in  one  field,  only  two 
or  three  years  previous.  The  introduction,  therefore, 
of  a  long  list  of  names  of  wheat,  which  has  never  been 
tested,  and  which  will  never  succeed,  even  if  properly 
cultivated,  would  seem  to  be  adding  confusion  and  be- 
wilderment, where  the  subject  might  otherwise  be 
moderately  clear  and  intelligible  for  all  practical  purpose. 

The  name  of  every  variety  of  wheat  should  be  signi- 
ficant of  something,  if  possible ;  and  always  short,  so 
that  it  may  be  remembered  without  difficulty. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIbf. 


91 


THE  PEDIGREE  WHEAT. 

This  celebrated  variety  of  wheat,  which  caused  so  much 
surprise  among  the  farmers  of  America  a  few  years 
ago,  is  a  winter  variety  ;  and  one  of  the  heads  is  rep 
resented  by  the  accompanying  illustration, 
as  the  heads  appeared  before  the  variety 
had  been  improved  by  judicious  selection 
of  seed  from  year  to  year  in  connection  with 
thorough  cultivation  on  a  rich  soil  adapted 
to  this  kind  of  grain.  I  have  had  one  of 
the  original  heads  engraved,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  showing  how  grain  may  be  im- 
proved. 

The  heads  are  not  smooth  and  beautiful, 
like  many  of  our  popular  varieties  ;  and 
there  is  nothing  remarkable  about  the 
variety,  any  more  than  there  would  be  in 
any  of  the  choice  varieties  of  winter  wheat 
that  are  now  raised  in  various  parts  of  the 
United  States.  - 

This  Pedigree  Wheat  was  a  very  prolific 
variety  ;  and  had  the  samples  which  were 
sown  been  cultivated  on  rich  wheat  soil, 
this  variety  would,  doubtless,  have  proved 
one  of  the  choicest  varieties  of  wheat  that 
was  ever  cultivated  in  America.  This  va- 
riety was  defective  in  one  very  important 
respect,  namely,  the  grain  was  liable  to  shell 
out  easily,  when  the  crop  was  not  harvested 
before  the  wheat  was  dead  ripe.  The  grain 
made  excellent  flour,  and  there  was  a  small 
percentage  of  bran. 


92 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 


t  The  head  of  wheat  on  this  page  re- 
presents the  same  variety  as  is  shown 
on  the  preceding  page.  But  this  head 
is  an  exact  representation  of  the  Ped 
igree  Wheat  after  the  variety  was  im- 
proved by  judicious  management, 
with  the  exception  that  this  cut  is 
more  than  one  inch  shorter  than 
the  original  head.  The  pages  of  this 
book  are  too  short  to  receive  an  illus- 
tration of  the  full  length  of  the  im 
proved  ears. 

This  variety  of  wheat  had  one  rad- 
ical defect,  as  a  popular  variety  for 
cultivation,  which  is  this:  the  chaff 
was  very  open  and  loose,  so  much  so 
that  the  grain  would  shell  readily,  at 
harvest  time,  unless  the  crop  were 
gathered  before  the  kernels  were  fully 
ripe.  Besides  this,  as  the  chaff  was 
loose  and  open,  the  grain  was  much 
more  liable  to  be  infested  with  the 
wheat  inidge. 

Large  numbers  of  American  farmers 
procured  small  quantities  of  seed  of 
European  wheat-growers,  with  the 
expectation  that  they  would  be  able 
to  raise  forty  bushels  of  choice  wheat 
per  acre,  where  they  had  heretofore 
grown  only  ten  to  twenty  bushels. 
But,  in  almost  every  instance,  they 
were  wonderfully  disappointed,  as  the 
heads  grew  but  a  trifle  longer  and 
FlG'13g7eJ"wSdPcdi"  larger  than  our  improved  varieties. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  93 

Most  persons  who  received  and  cultivated  this  kud  of 
wheat,  being  grievously  disappointed  in  the  growth  of 
ears  and  yield  of  grain,  denounced  the  variety  as  a  no- 
torious humbug.  But  the  grand  difficulty  rested  in  their 
imperfect  mode  of  cultivation.  The  soil  where  the 
originator  of  this  variety  cultivated  his  wheat  was  ex- 
ceedingly rich  in  those  elements  of  fertility  which  are 
essential  to  the  growth  of  large  heads  and  plump  kernels 
of  wheat.  But  the  ground  where  American  farmers  at- 
tempted to  grow  this  European  variety  was  only  in 
a  common  state  of  fertility,  and  by  no  means  rich  enough 
to  develop  ears  of  such  enormous  size.  Before  heads  of 
giant  size  can  be  produced,  there  must  be  an  abundance 
of  wheat-producing  pabulum  in  the  soil  available  by  the 
growing  plants.  Then  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
producing  a  bountiful  crop  of  excellent  grain. 

I  have  had  this  Pedigree  engraved  for  several  specific 
reasons,  one  of  which  is  to  induce  American  farmers,  if 
possible,  to  make  an  effort  to  produce  such  a  variety  of 
wheat  as  this  Improved  Pedigree  is  represented  to  have 
been.  When  an  experiment  of  this  kind  is  ever  made, 
care  should  be  exercised  to  have  every  characteristic  of 
a  perfect  variety  of  wheat,  developed  as  completely  as 
practicable.  (See  the  Characteristics  of  a  Perfect  Wheat, 
on  a  preceding  page.) 

Another  idea  is,  do  not  go  to  England  for  wheat. 
Select  the  best  heads  of  some  improved  American  vari- 
ety ;  and  improve  the  seed,  from  year  to  year.  Varie- 
ties of  wheat  brought  from  Europe  to  this  country  must 
first  be  acclimated ;  and  more  likely  than  not,  after  the 
wheat  has  been  thoroughly  acclimatized,  there  will  be 
defects  in  it,  just  as  there  was  in  this  noted  Pedigree 
Wheat.  But  if  the  variety  be  improved  on  American 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

soil,  the  crop  will  not  fail,  so  long  as  the  seed  is  selected 
with  proper  care  from  harvest  to  harvest. 

«. 

RED  CHAFF  BALD  WHEAT. 

hi  the  Transactions  of  the  New  York  State  Agricul- 
^  tural   Society   for   1842,  Rawson   Harmon 

writes  thus  about  this  kind  of  wheat : 

"  This  variety  was  well  adapted  to  the  soil 
in  the  Genesee  Yalley  of  Western  New 
York.  In  1803,  Peter  Sheffer  harvested 
forty  acres  of  this  kind  of  wheat  on  the 
Genesee  Flats,  that  produced  sixty  and  a 
half  bushels  of  grain  per  acre.  The  same 
season,  this  variety,  sown  on  the  oak  open- 
ings in  this  vicinity,  was  nearly  destroyed 
by  the  Hessian  fly.  Its  long  and  well-filled 
heads,  the  white  and  beautiful  berries,  gave 
it  the  preference  over  other  varieties  for 
more  than  twenty  years  ;  and  some  farmers 
in  this  vicinity  [Western  New  York]  con- 
tinue its  cultivation.  The  bran  of  the 
grain  is  thin  ;  and  it  yields  flour  of  supe- 
rior quality.  In  1833  I  harvested  sixty- 
seven  bushels  from  one  bushel  of  sowing, 
which  grew  on  one  acre  and  one-fourth 
of  land." 

I  have  copied  this  paragraph  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  what  a  profitable  and 
excellent  variety  of  grain  this  "Bald 
Wheat "  was,  when  the  country  was  com- 
paratively new;  and  before  rust,  the 
BaSVhtat.  midge,  and  the  fly  injured  the  growing  grain. 


THE  WHEAT  CULTTJKIST.  95 

THE  WHITE  GENESEE  WHEAT. 

This  variety,  illustrated  by  the  accompanying  figure 
of  a  head  of  wheat,  represents  what  is  sometimes  called 
the  Canada  Flint  Wheat,  which  is  an  excel- 
]ent  variety,  possessing  all  the  external  char- 
acteristics of  the  best  varieties  of  winter 
wheat.  It  is  hardy,  prolific,  has  a  thin  bran, 
yields  a  large  percentage  of  fine  flour,  and 
resists  the  ravages  of  the  midge  much  more 
effectually  than  many  other  celebrated  va- 
rieties. When  the  seed  has  been  saved  with 
care,  from  year  to  year,  and  sowed  on  a  fair 
wheat  soil,  which  is  in  an  excellent  state 
of  fertility,  this  variety  ripens  as  early  as 
any  kind  that  has  been  extensively  intro- 
duced. 

This  variety  is  almost  identical  with  the 
White  Flint  described  by  Klippart,  who  says 
that  "this  [the  White  Flint]  is  one  of  the 
most  valuable  kinds  in  the  Northern  States. 
The  heads  are  not  long  but  well  filled,  with 
thirty  to  forty  grains ;  the  kernel  is  white  and 
flinty,  large,  and  with  thin  bran.  They  are 
firmly  attached  to  the  chaff,  and  do  not  shell 
out,  except  when  very  ripe.  1  he  heads  are 
rather  drooping,  with  but  few  awns,  the  straw  Wh^G-Q^;e 
medium  length,  and  very  white  and  strong.  see- 
The  flour  is  very  superior;  the  perfect  wheat  weighs 
from  sixty-three  to  sixty-seven  pounds  per  bushel."  This 
would  be  an  excellent  variety  to  select  a  few  heads  from, 
for  producing  an  improved  variety,  as  it  possesses  pro- 
lificacy, and  is  nearly  midge  proof. 


96 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURTST. 


THE  RED  BLUE-STEM  WHEAT. 

This  is  an  old  and  very  popular  variety  of  wheat, 
which  originated  in  Pennsylvania.  It  is  one  of  the 
finest  and  most  profitable  varieties  of 
red  wheat.  The  growing  grain  with- 
stands the  ravages  of  the  wheat  midge 
better  than  many  varieties,  but  not  so 
well  as  some  others.  The  chaff  fits  rather 
close  to  the  kernels,  but  not  so  tight  as 
the  chaff  of  some  other  varieties.  The 
Red  Blue-stem  Wheat  is  one  of  the  most 
prolific  varieties  that  has  ever  been  cul- 
tivated ;  and  the  young  plants  endure  the 
cold  of  winter  with  less  injury  than  many 
other  kinds  of  wheat.  J.  H.  Klippart 
says,  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Ohio 
Board  of  Agriculture,  that  this  variety 
makes  as  good  a  quality  of  flour  as  does 
any  red  wheat ;  the  grain  ripens  three  to 
six  days  later  than  the  Mediterranean 
wheat ;  but  no  variety  repays  'good  cul- 
tivation so  well,  or  yields  so  little  when 
indifferently  cultivated,  as  does  this  va- 
FIG  riety.  Many  of  the  more  recent  varie- 

Red  blue-stem.  ties  of  smooth,  red  wheats  were  derived 
from  this  old  standard  variety,  which  has  been  cultivated 
in  many  counties  in  Ohio  for  more  than  fifty  years.  The 
regularity  of  the  rows  of  grain  and  the  tightness  of  the 
chaff  to  the  kernels  show  this  to  be  a  very  desirable  va- 
riety to  cultivate.  With  proper  selection  of  seed,  and 
superior  cultivation,  the  yield  and  quality  may  be  won- 
derfully improved. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 


97 


THE  BULL  WHEAT,  OR  OLD  WHITE  FLINT. 

J.  H.  Klippart  records  the  following  suggestions 
of  this  variety.  He  writes :  "  This  flint,  Old  White 
Flint,  or  Bull  Wheat,  appears  to  have  had 
three  distinct  origins,  so  far  as  Ohio  is 
concerned,  viz. :  in  Trumbull  and  other 
north-eastern  counties  it  was  introduced 
from  New  York  State  some  fifteen  years 
ago — there  it  ripens  with  the  Mediter- 
ranean ;  is  not  much  subject  to  disease, 
and  is  considered  a  good  variety.  In  Stark, 
Harrison,  etc.,  it  was  introduced  as  much 
as  thirty  years  ago  from  Pennsylvania,  and 
is  now  almost  literally  '  run  out?  But  in 
Franklin  and  other  more  southern  counties 
it  was  introduced  from  Kentucky,  ripened 
about  the  25th  of  July,  and  was  in  conse- 
quence soon  abandoned  entirely.  Ten 
years  ago  Samuel  Cole  introduced  it  into 
Darke  County,  where  it  is  doing  well ;  at 
the  same  time  it  was  introduced  into  Tus- 
carawas.  This  flint  is  of  Spanish  origin. 
The  head  is  of  medium  length  and  well 
filled— straw  white,  clear  and  strong  at  the  Bul1  wheat' 
root,  by  which  it  is  prevented  from  lodging ;  spikelets 
very  adhesive  to  the  rachis,  and  kernels  very  adhesive  to 
the  glumes.  It  succeeds  best  on  loamy  soils,  and  is 
rather  susceptible  to  injury  from  frosts  and  insects. 
The  berry  is  very  hard  from  its  silicious  cuticle  (hence 
its  name),  in  consequence  of  .which  it  is  less  injured  by 
fall  rains,  and  will  stand  in  the  shock  a  long  time  with- 
out sprouting." 


98 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


THE  INDIANA,  OR  GOLDEN  STEM  WHEAT. 

This  variety  is  a  white  winter  variety ;  but  does  not 
possess  the  necessary  characteristics  of  a  perfect  wheat. 
One  of  its  defects  is,  the  chaff  is  too  loose, 
so  much  so  that  the  wheat  midge  finds  easy 
access  to  the  kernels  ;  and  the  grain  shells 
out  readily  when  the  crop  is  being  har- 
vested. Another  defect  is,  the  straw  does 
not  usually  grow  sufficiently  stiff  to  maintain 
an  erect  position  till  the  time  of  perfect 
maturity.  The  cuticle  of  the  grain  is  thin, 
and  the  percentage  of  fine  flour  is  larger 
than  the  yield  of  some  other  varieties  of 
wheat. 


THE  EARLY  MAY  WHEAT. 

This  variety  was  once  one  of  the  finest 
kinds  of  wheat  that  could  be  found  in 
America  ;  and  in  some  localities  it  is  still 
cultivated  with  excellent  satisfaction.  But 
as  I  have  not,  of  late,  come  in  personal 
contact  with  the  Early  May,  and  as  there 
are  so  many  conflicting  opinions  about  the 
value  of  this  variety,  I  feel  in  doubt  as 
to  what  I  ought  to  record  about  it.  I 
have  no  doubt,  however,  that  with  care- 
ful cultivation,  this  would  prove  an  ex- 

FIG.  18. 

stem.  cellent  acquisition  to  the  best  varieties 
of  the  wheats  now  cultivated  in  this  country.  Who- 
ever has  this  variety,  still  pure,  should  make  an  extra 
effort  to  improve  it, 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


99 


THE  GENESEE  WHITE-FLINT  WHEAT. 

The  illustration  herewith  given  repre- 
sents the  celebrated  variety  long  known 
and  cultivated  as  the  Genesee  White- 
Flint  Wheat,  which  was  a  very  hardy  and 
prolific  variety  so  long  as  the  seed  was 
kept  distinct  from  other  kinds  of  grain. 
But  after  it  had  been  thrashed  with  other 
grain  and  allowed  to  hybridize  with  impure 
varieties,  the  White  Flint  character  disap- 
peared. The  original  grain  was  of  a  supe- 
rior character,  and  yielded  a  large  percent- 
age of  flour.  But  after  the  introduction  of 
thrashing-machines,  the  purity  of  this  va- 
riety became  wonderfully  adulterated,  so  \VM 
that  there  seemed  to  be  but  little  resem- 
blance between  the  varieties  raised  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  country  which  were 
cultivated  for  the  Genesee  White-Flint 
Wheat. 

J.  H.  Klippart  says  of  this  variety : 
"  Perhaps  the  first  of  this  variety  intro- 
duced into  Ohio  was  in  Warren  County, 
by  Thomas  Ireland,  in  1842.  From  there 
it  no  doubt  spread  through  the  valleys  of 
the  Miami ;  in  many  of  which  it  forms  the 
main  crop  of  the  white  wheats.  It  is  best 
adapted  to  high  and  gravelly  lands,  and 
rarely  if  ever  succeeds  on  a  bottom  soil. 
In  Franklin  County  it  is  regarded  as  a 
much  surer  crop  than  when  first  introduced 
eight  years  ago." 


FIG.  19. — G-enesee 
wheat. 


100 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJKIST. 


THE  ALABAMA  YAEIETT. 

This  variety  is  sometimes  known  better  by  the  White 
May  Wheat.  Before  this  variety  had  been  injured  by 
injudicious  culture  and  defective  frianage- 
ment,  it  was  one  of  the  most  perfect  varieties 
of  white  wheat,  ever  cultivated.  The  ears 
and  fine  white  grain  closely  resemble  the 
celebrated  White  Flint  Wheat.  In  many 
instances,  this  variety  did  not  seem  to  eii- 
dure  the  cold  of  winter  as  well  as  many  other 
varieties.  Before  the  Alabama  Wheat  had 
been  mingled  with  other  varieties  of  seed, 
with  which  the  growing  wheat  was  allowed 
to  hybridize,  a  bushel  of  the  grain  would 
yield  as  large  a  percentage  of  superfine  flour 
as  any  other  known  variety.  But  by  per- 
functory management  in  saving  the  seed,  this 
valuable  grain,  in  many  localities,  has  lost 
its  identity.  The  Alabama  was  nearly 
midge-proof  so  long  as  the  purity  of  the 
variety  was  maintained.  In  some  localities, 
this  variety,  at  the  present  writing  —  Novem- 
ber, 1867  —  is  cultivated  with  eminent  satis- 
faction. KLippart  says  "  it  ripens  about  the 
same  time  the  Mediterranean  does,  but  is 
easily  winter-killed,  thus  betraying  its  south- 
em  orjgm  .  yields  eighteen  to  twenty  bushels 
under  ordinary  circumstances  ;  it  comes  highly  recom- 
mended from  Morgan  County.  Its  general  appearance 
is  very  like  that  of  the  White  Blue-stem,  with  this  dif- 
ference, viz.  :  the  head,  when  fully  ripe,  is  a  deeper  yel- 
low than  the  Blue-stem  ;  the  stem  just  below  the  head  is 


F«J.  20. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


101 


a  pale  greenish-blue.  There 
are  from  eight  to  twelve 
breasts  on  each  side,  with 
four  grains  in  a  breast." 

BLACK  SIX-ROWED  ANDRIOLO 
WHEAT. 

The  ear  of  wheat  here 
shown  represents  a  mongrel, 
or  hybrid  variety  of  wheat, 
as  may  be  readily  perceived 
by  the  rough  appearance  of 
the  glumes,  the  irregularity 
of  the  rows  of  kernels,  and 
the  destitution  of  awns  at 
certain  parts  of  the  head. 
This  variety  has  not  been 
introduced  sufficiently  to 
warrant  a  recommendation. 
I  simply  give  it  a  place  to 
show  the  difference  between 
a  pure  and  well-established 
variety  and  a  mongrel.  This  I 

Black  Six-rowed  Andriolo 
Wheat  is  the  product  of  a  bald  and 
bearded  variety,,  the  kernels  of  one 
of  which  were  impregnated  with  the 
pollen  of  the  other  variety.  Such  va- 
rieties should  always  be  discarded  for 
seed,  as  the  yield  will  always  be  less* 
satisfactory  than  when  good  seed  of  a 
pure  variety  is  selected  and  sowed 
from  year  to  year. 


\ 


FIG.  21  .—Black  Audriolo  wheat 


102 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


FIG.  22.— Hairy  Andriolo. 


RED,    HAIRY   ANDRIOLO 
WHEAT. 

I  have  given  a  sketch  of 
this  wheat,  not  fcr   the 
purpose   of  recommend- 
ing this  variety,  but  to 
suggest  to  farmers  not  to 
attempt  to  grow   it   be- 
cause  the   ears   look   so 
large,  fair,  and  beautiful. 
This   variety    is    a    fair 
wheat,  prolific,  and  pos- 
sesses most  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  a  superior  va- 
riety of  wheat.     But  the 
large  awns  and  hairs  with 
which  the  ears  are  cov- 
ered are  a  serious  objec- 
tion to  its  general  intro- 
duction.       The    variety 
came      originally     from 
Italy ;  but  has  not  been 
introduced,  except  to  a 
very  limited  extent.     It 
is  evidently  a  mongrel,  or  hybrid ; 
and  before  it  can  be  cultivated  with 
satisfactory  results,  the  grain  needs 
to  be  acclimatized  by  selecting  a 
few  of  the  best  heads  and  cultivat- 
ing the  grain  on  rich  ground  until  a 
perfect  American  variety  is  brought 
out.     This  variety  has  prolificacy, 
for  which  reason,  it  would  be  a  first- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


103 


late  grain  to  experiment  with,  for  the  purpose  of  i 
proving  its  other  characteristics. 

THE  KENTUCKY  RED  OR  WHIG  WHEAT. 

This  is  an  old  variety,  known  in  vari- 
ous localities  by  different  names,  among 
which  are  the  Early  Ripe  Carolina,  Ken- 
tucky Red,  and  the  Whig  Wheat.  This 
kind  of  wheat  was  cultivated  in  several 
counties  in  Ohio,  with  eminent  satisfaction, 
for  a  number  of  years.  But,  as  the  crop  fell 
an  easy  prey  to  the  wheat  midge,  this  variety 
was  discarded.  I  allude  to  this  wheat  for 
the  purpose  of  teaching  young  farmers  the 
transcendent  importance  of  selecting  those 
varieties  of  wheat  for  cultivation  which 
are  as  nearly  midge-proof  as  a  wheat  can 
be.  Many  farmers,  by  continuing  to  sow 
this  variety,  which  had  previously  yielded 
fair  crops,  lost  hundreds  of  dollars  which 
they  might  have  received  without  any 
more  labor,  if  they  had  sowed  some  other 
variety  of  wheat. 

Klippart  says,  that  in  Kentucky  this  vari- 
ety is  known  as  the  "Early  Ripe"  wheat. 
The  ears  are  of  a  great  length,  usually  ;  the 
kernels  of  a  light  color ;  and  sometimes  the 
grain  is  shrunken.  This  variety  has  lost 
its  identity  in  many  localities,  for  which 
reason,  it  fails  to  yield  a  satisfactory  crop. 
In  some  localities,  however,  the  "  Early 
Ripe "  is  still  cultivated  with  the  best  of 
satisfaction ;  and  few  varieties  excel  it. 


nn- 


23. 
Kentucky  red. 


104 


THE    WHEAT   CULTTJEIST. 


FIG.  24. — Four-rowed  Andriolo. 


THE  FOUR-ROWED  ANDRIOLO 
WHEAT. 

The    variety    herewith 
represented   is  the  Four- 
rowed     White    Andriolo 
variety,  which  was  raised 
to   some    extent    by  the 
Hon.  Isaac  Newton,  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture, 
Washington.      This   is   a 
beautiful  variety,  prolific, 
stands    the    winters   tol- 
erably   well,    and    ripens 
early.     The  long  awns,  or 
rough  beards,  are  an  ob- 
jection to  it,  as  they  are 
unpleasant  to  handle,  and 
make     so     much     chaff, 
which      is     a     nuisance, 
when   the    straw  is    em- 
ployed   for    feeding    and 
littering  sheep  and  horses. 
This   variety  has  all   the 
external  characteristics  of 
a  perfect  variety  of  grain  ; 
and  were  it  properly  cul- 
tivated,   no     doubt    this 
would  be  one  of  the  best 
,  varieties    ever    raised   in 
America.     The  kernels  of 
this  variety  are  very  uni- 
form in  appearance ;   and 
the  variety  is  prolific. 


THE  WHEAT  CULTURIST.  105 

THE  DIEHL  VAJRIETY. 

The  illustration  on  this  page  is  an  exact  representa- 
tion of  the  far-famed  Diehl  Wheat,  which  is  familiar 
to  almost  every  wheat-grower  in  the  North- 
ern and  Western  States.  I  know  of  no 
other  variety  of  wheat,  either  spring  grain 
or  winter,  that  has  been  cultivated  with 
more  universal  satisfaction  than  this  wheat. 
It  is  a  winter  variety.  This  variety  seems 
to  come  up  as  fully  to  the  requirements  of 
wheat-growers  as  it  is  practicable  to  have 
wheat.  The  grain  is  white  and  the  crop 
ripens  .early  in  the  season.  It  is  hardy, 
prolific,  and  the  plants  endure  the  rigors 
of  our  northern  winters  quite  as  well  as 
any  other  known  variety.  The  ears  are 
bald,  or  awnless,  the  kernels  set  very 
securely  to  the  rachis,  the  chaff  is  close  to 
the  kernels,  so  that  this  variety  may  be 
truthfully  denominated  a  "fly-proof" 
wheat.  The  grain  does  not  shell  out, 
when  the  crop  is  being  harvested,  as  easily 
as  the  kernels  of  some  other  varieties. 
The  straw  is  stiff ;  and  thus  far  this  vari- 
ety has  been  exempt  from  injury  by  the 
rust. 

"  Colman's  Kural  World,"  published  at 
Chicago,  in  a  recent  number,  has  the  fol- 
lowing remarks  touching  the  Diehl  wheat :    The  Diehl  wheat. 
"  This  is  the  second  year  since  the  introduction  of  the 
Diehl  wheat  into  this  country.     Its  yield  last  year  was 
considered  above  the  average  of  other  kinds  of  wheat 

5* 


10t)  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

sown  here,  and  the  consequence  was,  it  was  much  sought 
after  to  seed  with  last  fall,  and  the  whole  crop  was 
bought  up  at  $3  per  bushel,  at  that  time  being  from  50 
to  75  cents  per  bushel  above  the  market  price  of  other 
white  wheat.  In  consequence  of  the  high  price  asked 
it  went  into  the  hands  of  many,  and  has  been  sown  on 
all  the  different  soils  of  our  country,  from  light  sand 
to  heavy  clay.  The  growth  of  straw  has  been  good  on 
all,  but  it  promises  the  best  yield  on  the  rich  lands,  and 
where  sown  early.  Where  sown  late,  and  on  the  same 
day  with  the  Tread  well,  it  was  very  much  injured  by 
the  midge,  and  the  Treadwell  was  uninjured. 

"We  cannot  say  positively  what  its  merits  are  when 
compared  with  the  other  white  wheats.  Many  think  there 
is  nothing  like  it,  while  others  are  not  ready  to  express 
their  opinions.  There  has  been  but  little  of  it  thrashed 
yet.  After  it  has  been  generally  thrashed,  it  will  as- 
sume its  position. 

"  To  sum  up — with  our  present  knowledge  of  the 
Diehl  wheat,  if  we  had  a  good  fallow,  rich  and  clean, 
we  would  sow  the  Diehl  wheat,  and  sow  early.  If  the 
land  was  of  moderate  richness  and  to  be  sown  late,  we 
would  sow  Treadwell.  We  think  the  Diehl  requires  a 
dryer  soil  than  the  Treadwell.  Persons  wanting  Diehl 
wheat  for  seed  this  year  should  not  pay  fancy  prices  for 
it,  but  should  willingly  pay  for  good,  sound,  clean  seed 
sufficient  above  the  market  price  of  wheat  to  recompense 
for  the  labor  of  making  it  so." 

Mr.  John  Johnston,  the  veteran  farmer  of  Geneva,  N". 
Y.,  says  in  regard  to  the  Diehl  wheat :  "  My  Diehl 
wheat  is  pretty  good.  One  field  may  yield  about  as 
well  as  last  year's ;  the  other  not.  Cause  :  not  manured 
for  many  years.  The  variety  has  degenerated  on  the 


THE   WHEAT    CTJLTTJKIST. 


107 


one  field,  but  not 
on  the  other ! " 
Mr.  J.  adds  :  "  If 
plenty  of  manure 
were  applied, there 
would  be  less  loss 
from  midge.  All 
that  is  needed  to 
insure  good  crops 
is  more  and  better 
manure.  Diehl 
wheat  is  excellent 
for  rich  land,  but 
not  good  for  poor. 
This  is  not  a  popu- 
lar doctrine,  but  it 
is  true." 

The  head  of 
wheat  represented 
by  this  illustration 
was  sketched  from 
a  head  of  this 
variety  raised  in 
Colorado,  and  de- 
posited in  the 
archives  of  the 
Agricultural  De- 
partment at  Wash- 
ington. There  is 
nothing  remark- 
able about  this 
variety,  except  the 
uncouth  appear- 


FIG.  26. — Egyptian  club  wheat. 


108  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

anee  of  the  ear.  The  variety  is  called  the  Seven- 
headed  Egyptian  Club  Wheat.  Mr.  Klippart  states  that 
"  this  variety  is  known  under  the  names  of  Egyptian, 
Syrian,  Smyrna,  Many-spiked,  Reed,  and  Wild-goose 
Wheat.  It  derives  its  latter  name  from  a  story,  which  is 
current  in  the  north,  that  four  or  five  kernels,  from  which 
the  American  stock  has  proceeded,  were  found  in  the 
crop  of  a  wild  goose,  which  was  shot  on  the  west  shore 
of  Lake  Champlain.  It  is  called  Reed  Wheat,  from  the 
great  strength  of  its  straw,  which  serves  to  prevent  its 
being  prostrated  in  the  field.  It  does  not  yield  so  much 
flour  or  meal  as  other  kinds  of  wheat ;  and  the  flour  is 
scarcely  superior  to  that  obtained  from  the  finest  barley. 
We  find  it  described  in  some  authorities  as  Mummy 
Wheat,  or  wheat  three  thousand  years  old.  The 
following  is  a  brief  popular  alleged  history  of  it :  It  is 
said  that  some  years  ago  a  gentleman  having  occasion  to 
unroll  an  Egyptian  mummy,  found  enclosed  with  the 
body  a  few  grains  of  wheat,  which  afterward,  upon  being 
sown  with  the  modern  Egyptian  wheat,  was  found  to  be 
-entirely  dissimilar.  The  former  contained  nearly  a 
hundred  stalks,  ranging  in  length  from  nearly  five  to 
upward  of  six  feet,  the  leaves  broader  than  usual,  and 
fully  an  average  as  to  length.  The  grain  was  in  two 
rows  or  triplets,  and  on  some,  twenty  triplets  on  a  side, 
or  forty  on  the  ear.  The  ear  contained  a  few  barbs  or 
awns  on  the  upper  end,  and  was  open  and  distant  be- 
tween the  grains.  It  flowered  nearly  a  fortnight  before 
any  of  the  varieties  sown  at  the  same  period.  The 
modern  Egyptian  is  dwarf,  not  more  than  four  feet  high, 
closely  set  .and  barbed  in  every  part  of  the  ear,  and  its 
general  resemblance  to  its  ancient  progenitor  is  not 
greater  than  that  of  barley  to  wheat.  Egyptian  wheat. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  109 

found  in  the  tombs  of  the  18th  dynasty — i.  e.,  from  B. 
c.  1822  to  B.  c.  1476 — has  germinated  when  sown  in 
Germany,  and  is  frequently  found  in  the  tombs  of  Egypt. 
It  has  been  grown  by  P.  Poorman,  in  Stark  County,  O. 
"  This  is  an  indifferent  variety  of  wheat.  The  straw 
grows  to  the  height  of  about  five  feet,  is  thick  and  pithy  ; 
the  leaves  are  often  ten  inches  long ;  the  head,  or  rather 
panicle,  is  about  four  inches  long,  and  nearly  two  wide 
and  deep,  and  when  ripe  is  of  a  reddish  brown.  The 
head  consists  of  from  five  to  twelve  small  heads  densely 
compacted  ;  the  awns  or  beards  are  often  four  inches 
long,  and  of  a  very  dark  brown  or  blackish  color.  The 
lower  part  of  the  grain  is  inordinately  swollen ;  it  is 
very  starchy,  but  not  hard  or  flinty." 

THE  WEEKS  WHEAT. 

Perhaps  very  few  other  varieties  of  wheat  have  been 
cultivated  with  more  general  satisfaction  than  this 
variety.  (In  numerous  instances,  this  wheat  has  erro- 
neously been  bought  and  sold  and  advertised  as  the 
"  Wicks  "  wheat.)  But  as  I  lived  for  many  years  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  originator  of  this  variety,  at  the  time 
of  his  experiments  with  it,  and  am  personally  acquainted 
with  him,  I  can  correct  any  false  impressions  that  have 
been  promulgated  concerning  its  identity,  with  the  as- 
surance that  my  statements  are  correct.  There  has  been 
great  confusion  among  farmers  in  regard  to  the  identity 
of  the  Weeks  wheat.  In  some  instances,  the  heads 
were  bald,  while  in  others  they  were  bearded,  similar 
to  the  head  herewith  illustrated.  Although  the  head 
of  wheat  from  which  this  engraving  was  made  was  said 
to  be  the  genuine  Weeks  wheat,  still  I  know,  from  what 


y 


FIG.  27. 


Weeks  wheat. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  Ill 

I  have  often  seen  on  my  own  farm  and  in  the  wheat 
fields  of  many  of  my  neighbors,  that  the  heads  of  the 
genuine  Weeks  wheat  are  not,  as  a  general  rule,  so 
jagged  and  irregular  as  this  illustration  represents  the 
variety  to  be.  The  heads  of  the  true  Weeks  wheat,  as  I 
used  to  raise  it,  had  four  regular  rows  of  kernels.  In 
some  instances,  there  were  no  beards,  while  other  heads 
were  covered  with  long  aWns.  The  originator  of  this 
variety  communicated  the  following  facts  touching  this 
variety  of  wheat,  in  response  to  my  inquiries  about  its 
origin  and  other  characteristics.  He  wrote  under  date 
of  October  19,  1867,  as  follows: 

"  In  answer  to  your  inquiries,  I  would  say  that  I  found 
the  head  from  which  the  Weeks  wheat  originated,  in  a 
crop  of  Mediterranean  wheat.  There  were  a  few  scat- 
tering heads  of  Hutchinson  and  Souls  wheat  mixed  with 
the  Mediterranean,  among  which  this  head  grew.  The 
product  of  the  selected  head  was  both  bearded  and  bald 
wheat,  nearly  one-third  being  bald  ;  and  it  continued  to 
grow  bald  heads  for  three  or  four  years,  though  such 
heads  were  carefully  picked  out  every  year.  The  midge 
worked  in  the  bald  heads  very  bad,  whilst  the  'bearded 
was  almost  free  from  their  ravages.  I  therefore  rejected 
the  bald,  and  grew  the  'bearded.  I  think  the  wheat  is  a 
cross  between  the  Souls  wheat  and  the  Hutchinson. 
"  Respectfully  yours, 

"  J.  M.  WEEKS. 

"  King's  Ferry,  Cayuga  Co.,  K  Y." 

E.  A.  King,  of  King's  Ferry,  Cayuga  Co.,  IS".  Y., 
whose  farm  lies  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Cayuga  Lake, 
and  who  has  cultivated  the  Weeks  wheat  for  a  few 
years  past,  writes  thus  to  the  "  Cultivator  ani  Country 


112  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

Gentleman  "  :  "  For  many  years  the  need  of  an  early 
and  productive  variety  of  wheat,  and  one  free  from  the 
'  midge '  or  '  weevil '  has  been  felt ;  and  in  the  Weeks 
wheat  the  farmer  has  such  a  variety.  It  is  a  choice 
white  wheat,  making  the  very  best  of  flour.  Millers  in 
Ithaca  and  Auburn  pay  from  two  to  four  shillings  more 
for  it  per  bushel  than  for  any  other  kind.  They  say  they 
get  more  flour,  and  of  a  better  quality,  than  from  any 
other  kind.  It  is  from  eight  to  twelve  days  earlier  than 
any  other  kind  which  farmers  have  here,  thus  escaping 
the  weevil  or  midge.  It  has  a  good  stiff  straw,  and 
thereby  escapes  the  Hessian  fly.  It  is  very  productive 
— twenty-five  bushels  not  being  a  high  average  per  acre, 
and  I  have  known  it  to  yield  as  high  as  forty-five  bush- 
els per  acre.  It  is  no  humbug,  as  scores  of  the  best 
farmers  here  will  testify ;  and  I  actually  believe  that  if 
this  variety  alone  was  sown  in  the  United  States,  the 
crop  would  be  doubled  on  the  area  over  the  present 
crop.  It  need  not  be  sown  before  the  15th  or  20th  of 
September  to  do  its  best." 

GOLDEN-STRAW  WHEAT. 

The  straw  of  this  variety  is  short  and  stiff,  and  is 
consequently  not  liable  to  lodge.  It  does  best  on  rich 
sandy  loams.  The  grain  is  not  properly  a  red  wheat ; 
but  of  nice  amber  color,  somewhat  resembling  the 
old-fashioned  flint  wheats.  In  Holmes  County,  Ohio, 
it  is  rather  of  a  yellowish  cast.  It  ripens  rather  later 
than  the  Mediterranean.  It  yields  about  twenty  bushels 
per  acre ;  and  improves  under  ordinary  culture,  and  is 
but  little  subject  to  injury  by  rust  or  fly.  It  is  rapidly 
growing  into  favor ;  and  eventually  may  perhaps  sup- 
plant the  Mediterranean. 


THE    WHEAT   CTJLTUKIST. 


113 


The   Ked   Andriolo 
Wheat,  represented  by 
the  accompanying  en- 
graving, is   similar   to 
the    White    Andriolo 
Wheat,  shown   on  an- 
other page  of  this  book. 
This  is  a  hardy  varie- 
ty, prolific,  moderately 
early,     and     possesses 
most  of  the  character- 
istics of  a  superior  va- 
riety of  winter  wheat. 
The  long,  rough  awns 
are  an  objection  to  its 
cultivation,  when   the 
straw  is  to  be  employed 
for    feeding    stock    or 
littering    their    apart- 
ments.    Domestic  ani- 
mals     dislike       these 
harsh,  tasteless,  and  in- 
nutritious     beards,    as 
they  are  ruinous  to  fine 
wool,  liable  to   injure 
the    eyes    of    animals, 
and  when  the  chaff  is  employed 
for    bedding    for    horses,    these 
ugly,  barbed  awns  are  liable  to 
find  their  way  into  the  sheath  of 
male  horses,  to  their  serious  in- 
jury.    Awns  are  of  no  advan- 
tage to  wheat. 


FIG.  28.— Eed  Andriolo. 


114:  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


THE  TAPPAHANNOCK  WHEAT. 

This  excellent  variety  of  winter  wheat  has  not  been 
introduced  to  any  considerable  extent  in  th£  United 
States.  Hon.  Isaac  Newton,  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture at  Washington,  experimented  with  this  wheat ; 
and  the  same  season  he  died,  186T,  he  pronounced  the 
Tappahannock  the  earliest  and  most  promising  of  all 
the  varieties  of  winter  wheat  with  which  he  experi- 
mented on  the  government  farm.  Mr.  JSTewton  states 
that  this  variety  does  not  seem  to  be  so  prolific  as  some 
other  kinds ;  but  the  grain  is  of  a  fine  quality,  and  it 
makes  excellent  flour.  He  thought  this  variety  is 
much  less  liable  to  disease  and  the  ravages  of  the  fly 
than  some  other  varieties.  Farmers  in  other  States 
besides  Virginia,  who  have  raised  this  kind  of  wheat, 
state  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  Tappaliannock  is  ex- 
tremely hardy  and  prolific,  when  the  seed  has  been 
saved  with  care,  from  year  to  year ;  the  yield  of  fine 
flour  is  large ;  the  plants  endure  the  winter  extremely 
well ;  and  all  things  considered,  the  Tappaliannock  is 
an  excellent  variety  of  wheat. 

THE  MEDITERRANEAN  WHEAT. 

This  variety  is  said  to  have  been  introduced  from 
Genoa,  in  1819,  by  J.  Gordon,  of  Wilmington,  Dela- 
ware. It  was  cultivated  for  many  years  with  eminent 
satisfaction,  as  the  wheat  midge  injured  the  crop  none 
to  speak  of.  In  many  instances  the  straw  was  not  suffi- 
ciently stiff  to  maintain  an  erect  position  till  harvest. 
As  it  was  more  expensive  harvesting  lodged  wheat,  and 
as  the  yield  was  diminished  by  the  falling  down  of  the 


THE    WHEAT    CULTTJKIST.  115 

straw,  and  as  the  price  per  bushel  was  often  t wenty  to 
thirty  cents  less  in  market  than  other  wheat,  this  va- 
riety was  almost  discarded  in  many  localities. 

At  present  we  have  the  Red  Mediterranean  and  the 
White,  both  of  which  are  cultivated  with  eminent  satis- 
faction, where  the  seed  has  not  been  allowed  to  mix  and 
to  degenerate  by  injudicious  management.  Both  the 
white  and  the  red  varieties  yield  bountiful  crops ;  and 
resist  the  midge  nearly  as  well  as  any  other  variety. 
The  Mediterranean  wheat  matured  ten  to  fifteen  days 
before  other  varieties  when  first  introduced.  But,  by 
slack  management  of  the  seed,  the  variety  lost  its  early- 
maturing  character.  This  wheat  is  known  as  a  bearded 
and  bald  ;  and  as  white  and  red  grain. 

I  have  found  so  many  different  varieties  which  pass 
for  the  Mediterranean,  that  it  will  be  utterly  useless  to 
attempt  to  pen  such  a  description  of  the  Mediterranean 
wheat  as  will  prove  of  any  service  or  satisfaction  to 
even  a  small  number  of  the  readers  of  this  book.  Mr. 
Klippart,  in  his  "  Wheat  Plant,"  speaks  very  favorably 
of  the  Mediterranean  wheat ;  and  my  own  experience 
is,  that  where  the  seed  has  not  been  allowed  to  degene- 
rate by  slack  cultivation,  this  variety  is  one  of  the 
most  profitable  kinds  that  American  farmers  can  cul- 
tivate. 

When  the  Mediterranean  Red  variety  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  best  wheat-growing  regions  of  ISTew  York, 
many  farmers  refused  to  employ  this  variety  for  seed, 
simply  because  the  straw  was  so  slender  that  it  would 
lodge,  and  frequently  be  tangled  into  a  complete  snarl, 
before  harvest-time,  thus  diminishing  the  yield  of  grain, 
and  greatly  augmenting  the  labor  of  harvesting  the 
crop. 


116  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


THE  BLACK-SEA  SPRING  WHEAT. 

This  excellent  variety  of  spring  wheat  was  once  one  of 
the  choicest  kinds  of  spring  grain  that  has  ever  been 
cultivated  in  the  United  States.  But  slip-shod  farm- 
ing soon  brought  the  Black-Sea  wheat  into  disfavor. 
Before  it  had  been  allowed  to  hybridize  with  other  va- 
rieties, it  was  considered  an  earlier  variety  than  the 
others ;  and  it  succeeded  comparatively  well,  if  sowed 
when  it  would  be  too  late  for  other  kinds  to  mature.-  It 
has  been  sown  as  late  as  the  20th  of  June  in  Eastern 
New  York,  and  produced  bright  straw  and  a  plump 
berry.  This  has  been  much  liked,  because  it  may  be 
sown  so  late  as  to  escape  the  wheat  midge,  and  yet  fill. 
As  the  wheat  jnidge  does  not  rage  so  much  now  as  for- 
merly, it  is  not  so  extensively  cultivated. 

S.  Kieffer,  of  Jefferson  County,  !N".  Y.,  writes  that 
the  Black  Sea  wheat  is  not  so  valuable  to  manufac- 
ture into  flour  for  exportation,  because  it  is  not  so  white 
and  light,  or  soft  to  the  touch  of  the  finger,  but  makes 
good  bread,  of  a  rather  yellowish  color.  It  never  has 
rusted  or  blasted  with  me,  and  I  doubt  if  it  has  with 
anybody  else  when  sown  within  the  month  of  May.  1 
have  grown  it  upon  interval  land  so  rich  that  it  lodged 
and  lay  flat  upon  the  ground  during  the  time  it  was 
filling  until  it  was  harvested  ;  yet  it  was  well  filled,  and 
yielded  thirty-eight  (38^-)  bushels  per  acre. 

If  this  variety  could  have  been  kept  pure,  and  the 
seed  improved  from  year  to  year,  according  to  the  di- 
rections laid  down  in  this  treatise,  farmers  would  have 
had  a  variety  of  wheat  that  would  now  be  a  great  na- 
tional blessing.  It  is  a  glaring  reproach  to  American 
farmers,  that  they  will  allow  choice  varieties  of  wheat 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST.  117 

to  deteriorate  and  run  out,  simply  by  perfunctory  man- 
agement. 

THE  Eio  GRANDE. 

This  is  a  choice  variety  of  spring  wheat ;  but  has  not 
been  introduced,  except  in  a  few  localities.  Wherever 
it  has  been  cultivated  for  several  successive  seasons, 
with  care,  and  the  seed  kept  pure,  the  crops  have  given 
fair  satisfaction.  The  straw  is  usually  rather  stiff,  so 
that  the  growing  grain  is  not  prostrated  by  protracted 
storms.  This  variety  has  been  grown  quite  extensively 
in  some  parts  of  Minnesota,  and  other  Western  States. 
Usually,  farmers  and  millers  have  spoken  well  of  the 
Rio  Grande.  I  think  that  if  the  seed  of  this  variety 
could  be  cultivated  with  the  care  alluded  to  under  the 
head  of  Seed  Wheat,  the  Rio  Grande  would  be  one  of 
the  choicest  and  most  profitable  varieties  of  spring 
wheat  that  has  ever  been  cultivated  in  America.  This 
wheat  possesses  all  the  characteristics  of  a  perfect  vari- 
ety of  cereal  grain.  But  in  numerous  instances,  the 
crop  has  been  allowed  to  hybridize  with  other  grain,  so 
that,  in  some  instances,  it  has  lost  its  identity. 

CHINA  TEA  WHEAT. 

This  is  a  spring  wheat.  The  chaff  is  white ;  the 
heads  are  long  and  well  tilled  with  plump  kernels,  when 
the  soil  is  moderately  fertile.  The  kernels  are  large, 
and  rather  far  apart.  It  is  a  bearded  variety ;  and  very 
prolific.  On  rich  soil,  the  straw  stands  erect  tolerably 
well.  But  some  millers  have  complained  of  this  variety 
that  the  bran  is  thick ;  and  that  the  grain  does  not  yield 


118  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

so  much  flour  per  bushel  as  the  grain  of  some  other 
varieties.  The  China  Tea  has  been  cultivated,  in 
years  past,  quite  extensively,  in  many  parts  of  Western 
New  York,  with  eminent  satisfaction.  In  some  of  the 
middle  counties  of  the  State,  where  the  seed  has  been 
allowed  to  hybridize,  there  has  been  not  a  little  com- 
plaint about  the  unsatisfactory  results  of  the  China  Tea 
variety.  In  some  other  States,  this  variety  has  been 
cultivated  to  a  limited  extent ;  and  I  have  always  found 
that  slack  farmers  denounced  it,  while  thorough-goi no- 
cultivators  of  the  soil  speak  well  of  the  China  Tea. 


THE  FIFE  SPRING  WHEAT. 

The  Fife  Wheat  and  the  Canada  Club  Wheat  are  said 
to  be  the  same  variety  in  certain  sections  of  the  country. 
But  they  are  entirely  distinct.  They  were  both  culti- 
vated in  Central  ."New  York,  to  a  limited  extent,  for  sev- 
ral  successive  years,  when  I  resided  in  Tompkins  County. 
The  grain  appears  very  much  alike;  but  the  straw, 
when  growing,  is  quite  unlike.  I  once  grew  both  varie- 
ties on  my  farm ;  and  I  found  that  the  Club  wheat 
would  mature  a  week  earlier  than  the  Fife.  The  straw 
of  the  Fife  is  short  and  stiff;  and  the  variety  is  moder- 
ately prolific.  The  Fife  wheat,  with  me,  always  resisted 
the  midge  satisfactorily;  and  the  grain  always  made 
excellent  flour. 


SILVER  STRAW  WHEAT. 

This  is  a  variety  of  winter  wheat  full  of  encouraging 
promises  to  American  farmers ;  but  which  has  been  cul- 
tivated only  to  a  limited  extent.  It  possesses  all  the 


ITY 

THE   WHEAT   CTJLTUI^STpA  L  ]  F(J  R  :  1]  $x 

— ^ -*-_* ._ 

external  characteristics  of  a  perfect  variety.  The  rows 
of  grain  are  very  regular ;  the  heads  are  large  and  well 
filled  with  plump  kernels ;  the  grain  is  of  a  beautiful 
amber  color;  the  straw  is  stiff,  and  has  a  fine  silver 
lustre;  the  growing  crop  is  nearly  weevil  proof;  the 
straw  is  seldom  affected  with  rust;  the  young  plants 
endure  the  cold  of  winter,  extremely  well ;  and  it  is 
one  of  the  finest  varieties  of  wheat  that  can  be  found 
in  New  Jersey,  where  it  is  grown  with  eminent  profit 
and  satisfaction. 

UNDESCRIBED  VARIETIES. 

~No  doubt  hundreds  of  my  readers  will  wonder  why 
I  did  not  describe  certain  varieties  which  have  only  a 
local  name,  having  been  cultivated  only  in  certain  local- 
ities. I  am  aware  that  there  are  many,  probably,  excel- 
lent varieties  of  both  winter  and  spring  wheat,  which 
I  have  never  heard  of.  I  have  heard  of,  and  have  seen 
many  varieties  that  I  have  made  no  allusion  to  in  this 
book ;  because  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  anything 
really  reliable  in  regard  to  their  characteristics.  Where 
I  knew  nothing  of  a  certain  kind  of  wheat,  and  was  not 
able  to  obtain  reliable  information  touching  its  excel- 
lence, I  have  thought  best  to  pen  nothing  about  it. 
There  are  many  kinds  of  wheat  in  the  Western  States, 
of  which  I  failed  to  secure  an  intelligible  description ; 
therefore,  I  have  omitted  the  names. 


120  THE   WHEAT  CULTURIST. 


CHAPTER    II. 

SOIL,  AND  ITS  PREPARATION  FOR  WHEAT. 

"  But  if  your  care  to  wheat  alone  extend, 
Let  Maia,  with  her  sisters,  first  descend ; 
And  the  bright  Gnossian  diadem  downward  bend, 
Before  you  trust  in  earth  the  future  hope ; 
Or,  else  expect  a  listless,  lazy  crop." 

DRYDEN'S  VIRGIL. 

THE  proper  preparation  and  continued  management 
of  the  soil  from  year  to  year,  lies  at  the  very  foundation 
of  successful  wheat  culture.  A  farmer  may  sow  the 
best  and  most  prolific  varieties  the  world  ever  knew,  and 
fail  to  raise  a  satisfactory  crop  of  wheat,  if  the  soil  is  not 
just  as  it  should  be. 

In  preparing  the  soil  for  the  production  of  a  crop  of 
winter  grain — wheat,  rye,  or  winter  barley — the  aim 
should  always  be  to  keep  the  vegetable  matter  and 
the  manurial  portions  as  much  on,  or  near  the  surface  as 
is  practicable.  The  grand  object  of  preparing  the  soil 
in  this  way,  is  that  the  roots  of  the  plants  may  spread  out 
horizontally,  instead  of  striking  in  a  more  vertical  direc- 
tion. When  they  spread  out  horizontally,  they  form  a 
kind  of  mat  in  the  soil,  a  few  inches  deep,  which  rises 
and  settles  down  bodily,  when  the  soil  freezes  and  thaws. 
Therefore  the  soil  may  freeze  and  thaw  a  great  number 
of  times,  when  the  roots  are  matted  together  horizontally, 
without  throwing  the  plants  out  of  the  soil.  Whereas, 
when  the  vegetable  matter  is  mingled  with  a  good  depth 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  121 

of  soil,  so  that  the  roots  must  necessarily  strike  deep 
before  they  can  reach  the  necessary  sustenance,  they 
will  be  lifted  out  and  broken  by  the  frost  after  freezing 
only  a  few  times. 

Now,  if  we  could  invert  only  a  few  inches  in  depth 
of  the  soil— say  three  or  four  inches — and  then  pulver- 
ize the  soil  below  this  thin  stratum  of  surface  soil,  thus 
keeping  the  largest  proportion  of  humus  and  available 
fertilizers  near  the  surface  of  the  earth,  there  is  no 
doubt  but  that  we  should  see  a  very  remarkable  differ- 
ence in  more  abundant  crops  of  grain  ;  and  at  the  same 
time  it  would  be  of  a  better  quality,  as  its  growth 
would  not  be  stinted  by  the  frosts  of  winter. 

To  show  that  this  theory  of  cultivation  is  philoso- 
phical and  practically  correct,  I  will  simply  refer  to  the 
practice  formerly  in  vogue,  of  sowing  wheat  on  newly- 
cleared  land,  after  the  surface  had  been  simply  har- 
rowed— or  without  ploughing  any  part  of  the  ground. 
"Winter-killing  of  wheat,  when  put  in  thus,  was  seldom 
complained  of.  As  there  was  but  little  depth  to  the 
soil,  all  the  roots  spread  out  horizontally ;  and  it  was 
almost  impossible  for  the  young  plants  to  be  injured  by 
the  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  surface  of  the  field. 

Thousands  of  acres  of  the  finest  quality  of  wheat 
were  cultivated,  when  the  country  was  new,  on  ground 
that  was  simply  harrowed  over,  having  never  been 
ploughed.  The  most  abundant  crops  that  the  best 
wheat-fields  of  the  country  ever  have  produced,  or  ever 
will  yield,  grew  where  the  timber  had  just  been  cut  off ; 
and  where  the  logs  and  brush  were  burned  to  ashes, 
which  were  harrowed  into  the  thin  stratum  of  leaf 
inould  that  formed  the  seed-bed  of  the  future  crop.  The 
land,  in  numerous  instances,  was  so  exceedingly  rooty 

6 


122  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

and  stumpy  that  it  would  have  been  an  utter  impracti- 
cability to  plough  it.  And  yet,  with  all  the  deep 
ploughing,  thorough  pulverization,  and  bountiful  ma- 
nuring, farmers  find  it  difficult  to  produce  as  many 
bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  on  the  same  land,  as  they 
were  accustomed  to  grow,  without  any  manure  at  all, 
and  without  any  preparation  of  the  land,  except  a 
superficial  harrowing. 

It  is  eminently  important  that  farmers  should  under- 
stand that  the  manner  of  preparing  land  for  winter 
wheat,  as  practised  by  our  ancestors,  was  compatible 
with  the  habit  of  the  wheat  plant ;  and  it  was  also  the 
scientific  way  of  cultivation,  with  a  view  of  avoiding 
the  injurious  influences  of  freezing  and  thawing  of  the 
soil,  on  the  growing  wheat  plants.  If  the  hard  subsoil 
beneath  the  thin  stratum  of  mould  could  have  been 
broken  up  with  a  subsoil  plough,  without  having  been 
turned  above  the  rich  seed-bed,  the  yield  of  grain  would 
have  been  much  larger  than  the  most  bountiful  crops 
that  grew  where  no  implement  of  husbandry  wras  ever 
before  used,  except  the  common  harrow.  All  the  aged 
•wheat-growers  of  our  country,  who  have  a  correct 
understanding  of  the  difficulties  that  are  now  met  with 
by  wheat-growers,  will  appreciate  these  suggestions,  as 
they  understand  perfectly  well  how  easy  it  was,  when 
they  cultivated  wheat  according  to  the  foregoing  plan, 
to  produce  a  heavy  crop. 

There  are  other  considerations  which  it  is  proper  to 
mention,  that  exerted  a  favorable  influence  towards  the 
production  of  a  bountiful  crop  of  grain,  among  which 
may  be  mentioned  the  protection  of  the  wheat  plants  in 
the  winter,  by  the  extensive  forests  that  shielded  the 
wheat-fields  from  the  terrible  winds  that  now  remove 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  123 

all  the  snow  during  the  winter  months  ;  and  also  the 
liberal  amount  of  excellent  fertilizing  material  in  the 
form  of  wood  ashes.  Allusion  is  made  to  these  things 
more  extensively  in  another  part  of  this  work.  The 
main  point  to  which  I  desire  to  direct  the  attention  of 
wheat-growers  is,  the  most  favorable  condition  of  the 
soil,  and  other  circumstances,  in  order  to  produce  a 
satisfactory  crop  of  grain.  Necessity  required  our  an- 
cestors to  adopt  the  mode  of  cultivation  to  which  allu- 
sion has  been  made.  They  might  not  have  perceived 
at  that  time  that  those  circumstances  and  conditions  of 
seed-bed,  and  everything  else,  were  more  favorable  than 
any  other  for  the  production  of  a  bountiful  crop  of 
grain.  But  they  see  it  now.  The  suggestion  may 
never  have  occurred  to  them  that  it  made  any  difference 
wli ether  the  best  soil  was  kept  at  the  surface  or  turned 
half  a  foot  beneath  it.  But  successful  wheat-growers 
have  learned  that  it  does  make  all  the  difference  in  the 
world,  whether  the  best  soil  is  kept  at  the  surface,  when 
a  crop  of  winter  grain  is  to  be  raised.  Read  volume 
second,  page  125,  of  Young  Farmer's  Manual. 

Let  this  be  the  key-note,  then,  to  successful  wheat  cul- 
ture :  to  keep  the  best  soil,  or  a  thin,  mellow  stratum 
of  rich  soil,  at  the  surface.  Then  make  the  subsoil  as 
deep  and  porous  by  pulverization  as  practicable,  by  the 
use  of  the  subsoil  plough. 

How   FREEZING   AND   THAWING  OF  THE   SOIL  AFFECTS 
GROWING  WHEAT. 

Practical  farmers  understand  very  well,  how  freezing 
and  thawing  of  the  surface  of  the  soil  affects  the  wheat 
plant.  Doubtless  every  observing  farmer  who  reads 


124  THE   WHEAT   CULTTJEIST. 

these  pages,  will  recollect  of  having  seen  the  surface  of 
very  wet  and  light  ground  lifted,  so  that  the  ice  and 
a  little  earth  would  resemble  a  honeycomb.  Every 
wheat-grower  should  have  a  correct  understanding  of 
the  effect  of  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  soil  on  the 
wheat  plants,  as  the  injury  to  the  wheat  plant  arising 
from  the  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  soil,  is  usually  the 
most  serious  obstacle  that  farmers  meet  with  in  our 
wheat-growing  regions.  By  the  alternate  freezing  and 
thawing  of  the  surface  of  the  soil,  the  stools  of  wheat 
are  lifted  and  separated  from  their  hold  upon  the  soil. 
The  deep  roots  which  penetrate  below  the  reach  of  shal- 
low frosts  are  broken  off,  and  the  earth  is  more  or  less 
loosened  from  the  others.  Here  we  perceive  the  dis- 
advantage of  depositing  the  seed  too  deep.  The  roots 
originating  from  the  seed,  being  far  below  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  when  the  plant  is  lifted  by  the  expansion 
of  the  soil,  the  stem  will  be  likely  to  be  separated  some- 
where between  the  surface  of  the  ground  and  the  roots. 
The  plants  then  soon  die.  When  the  roots  strike  down- 
ward, their  hold  in  the  soil  is  loosened,  when  the  frost 
lifts  the  soil ;  and  as  the  wheat  plants  do  not  settle  back 
to  their  original  position  when  the  ground  thaws,  the 
roots  are  soon  worked  upward,  until  they  are  raised 
almost  clear  of  the  soil,  as  if  they  had  been  pulled  up 
by  hand.  Every  practical  wheat-grower  is  familiar 
with  all  these  disadvantages  in  raising  winter  wheat. 
With  spring  grain,  none  of  these  things  occur. 

When  the  soil  freezes,  it  is  greatly  expanded ;  and  the 
expansion  is  all  upward,  because  the  unfrozen  earth 
below,  will  not  yield  to  the  frozen  stratum ;  and  there  is 
no  vacant  space  to  be  filled  by  the  lateral  enlargement. 
For  this  reason,  the  surface  of  the  soil  is  often  elevated 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  125 

two,  three,  or  more  inches  higher  than  it  stands  when 
the  ground  is  not  frozen. 

If  the  position  of  shallow-rooted  trees,  where  the  ground 
freezes  deeply,  be  compared  with  horizontal  marks  on  a 
building  that  the  frost  does  not  lift,  it  will  often  be  seen 
that  they  stand  from  one  to  two  inches  higher,  when 
the  soil  is  thus  frozen,  than  when  free  from  frost.  As 
the  roots  of  such  trees  lie  nearly  in  a  horizontal  position, 
they  rise  and  settle  back  with  the  lifting  and  settling  of 
the  soil.  Thus  it  is  with  sod  ground.  The  roots  of  the 
grass  form  such  a  tangled  mat  near  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  that  the  entire  layer  of  turf  settles  back  in  a 
body,  keeping  the  roots  in  their  true  position. 

I  have  in  mind  an  instance  which  will  illustrate  the 
great  expansion  of  the  soil,  even  when  beneath  a  heavy 
weight.  In  the  basement  of  my  workshop,  there  were 
two  sticks  of  timber  resting  with  their  ends  on  the  sills, 
and  the  middle  of  each  stick  was  supported  by  posts  set 
in  the  ground,  where  frost  could  not  reach  them.  In 
very  cold  weather,  the  entire  building  would  be  raised 
by  the  freezing  of  the  earth  beneath  the  foundation,  so 
that  a  plank,  an  inch  and  a  half  thick,  could  be  put 
under  the  timbers,  on  the  top  of  the  posts. 

With  a  perfect  understanding  of  the  foregoing  sugges- 
tions, a  farmer  will  be  well  prepared  to  do  something 
to  prevent  in  a  great  degree,  or  entirely,  any  injury  to 
the  wheat-plant  from  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  soil. 
In  order  to  prevent  injury  from  this  source,  two  things 
are  essential.  The  first  is,  thorough  drainage,  where  the 
soil  is  at  all  inclined  to  be  too  wet.  Dry  soils  are  af- 
fected but  little  by  freezing.  But  when  a  soil  is  satu- 
rated with  water,  it  often  heaves  several  inches  above 
its  iisual  height.  This  process  so  disturbs  the  roots  of 


FIG.  29. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  127 

"wheat,  that  they  have  no  more  hold  on  the  soil  than 
if  just  transplanted.  Hence,  they  are  apt  soon  to  die. 

The  next  consideration  is  shallow  seeding,  and  cul- 
tivating the  soil  so  as  to  keep  the  mould,  or  the  richest 
part  of  the  soil,  at  the  surface. 

I  will  endeavor  to  make  this  point  more  intelligible 
by  an  explanation  of  the  accompanying  illustration, 
which  represents  a  young  wheat-plant  which  has  sprung 
from  a  kernel  of  wheat  that  was  planted  about  six  inches 
deep.  The  seminal  or  primary  roots  that  have  sprung 
from  the  kernel' take  such  a  firm  hold  of  the  soil,  that 
when  the  surface  is  lifted  the  stem  will  be  severed,  as 
shown,  at  some  point  between  the  two  systems  of  roots. 
Unless  winter  wheat  is  put  in  very  early  in  autumn,  the 
coronal,  or  secondary,  or  upper  set  of  roots  will  not 
attain  one-half  the  size  herewith  represented.  I  have 
shown  a  bulb  just  below  the  surface  of  the  ground,  much 
larger  than  it  really  grows,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrat- 
ing the  principle  on  which  the  young  wheat-plants 
grow.  The  upper  set  of  roots  seldom  appear  as  large 
as  they  are  here  represented,  until  the  plants  have  begun 
to  grow  luxuriantly  the  next  spring  after  the  seed  is  put 
in.  We  can  perceive,  at  once,  how  easily  the  frost 
would  heave  out  the  growing  plant,  if  there  were  only 
a  few  small  roots  issuing  from  the  bulb,  to  hold  it  in 
the  ground. 

When  seed  wrheat  is  ploughed  in  deep,  if  we  examine 
the  plants  just  before  winter,  we  shall  find  that  there 
are  roots  issuing  from  the  kernel,  as  shown  by  the 
illustration,  and  none — or  very  few — at  the  bulb.  After 
a  period  of  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  wheat  field,  in 
some  wet  place,  let  the  stems  be  examined,  and  they  will 
be  found  severed,  as  represented  by  the  preceding  cut. 


128  THE   WHEAT   CULTTJRIST. 

Now,  the  great  practical  question  again  recurs — to 
which  I  have  previously  alluded — what  can  the  hus- 
bandman do  to  avoid  injury  from  freezing  and  thawing 
of  the  soil?  I  again  repeat  the  answer  wh\ch  was 
hinted  at  under  the  Habit  of  the  Wheat  Plant,  p.  49, 
that  the  seed  must  be  planted  shallow.  If  that  kernel 
of  grain  shown  in  the  last  illustration,  Fig.  29,  had 
been  deposited  near  the  lower  end  of  the  bulb,  all  the 
seminal  or  primary  roots,  and  all  the  coronal  or  second- 
ary roots  would  be  so  close  together  that  they  would 
tend  to  form  a  mat  of  earth,  like  a  sod,  which  would 
rise  and  fall  with  the  expansion  and  contraction  of  the 
surface  of  the  ground  when  it  freezes  and  thaws.  By 
this  means,  the  injury  arising  from  the  heaving  of  the 
soil  will  be  avoided,  provided  the  best,  the  mellowest, 
and  richest  soil  be  kept  at  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

The  foregoing  explanation  of  the  management  of 
wheat  is  applicable  to  winter  grain — to  rye  as  well  as 
to  growing  wheat.  In  the  culture  of  spring  grain,  we 
have  no  such  difficulties  to  contend  with.  Let  this  sec- 
tion be  read  in  connection  with  deep  and  shallow  seed- 
ing on  another  page.  I  am  fully  satisfied,  after  thirty 
years'  observation  on  this  subject,  that  farmers  must 
make  themselves  familiar  with  the  principles  of  growth 
and  of  cultivation  herein  laid  down,  before  they  will  be 
able  to  raise  winter  wheat  with  satisfactory  success. 


BEST  QUALITY  OF  SOIL  FOR  WHEAT. 

Many  farmers  have  inquired,  with  much  solicitude, 
why  wheat  will  not  grow  on  any  soil  that  is  fertile  and 
mellow  ? — or,  why  a  soil  will  not  produce  a  good  crop 
of  wheat  that  produces  fair  crops  of  everything  else? 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  129 

But  the  correct  answer  is  very  obvious  and  brief.  If  a 
soil  is  destitute  of  wheat-producing  material,  it  cannot 
produce  a  bountiful  crop  of  that  kind  of  grain.  There 
are  many  soils  that  will  produce  fair  crops  of  Indian 
corn,  rye,  barley,  and  oats,  which  will  not  yield  a  re- 
remunerating  crop  of  wheat.  And  why  ?  Simply  be- 
cause the  roots  of  the  wheat  plant  cannot  find,  in  that 
soil,  the  right  kind  of  material  that  is  necessary  to  form 
the  kernels.  In  one  soil,  the  minute  roots  find  an 
abundance  of  material,  which  they  may  take  up,  for  the 
formation  and  perfect  development  of  the  kernels ; 
while  in  another  soil,  the  roots  may  send  out  their  nu- 
merous little  hungry  mouths  into  every  cubic  inch  of 
the  soil,  in  search  of  material  to  produce  the  grain,  and 
not  find  it.  This  is  the  great  difficulty  with  a  soil  that 
will  not  produce  wheat.  And,  until  such  materials  are 
added  to  the  soil,  it  may  be  cultivated  and  sowed  in  vain. 

All  farmers — or  chemists — who  know  anything,  prac- 
tically, about  raising  good  wheat,  will  admit  that  the 
best  soil  for  raising  good  wheat  contains  a  good  propor- 
tion of  clay.  Wheat  requires  a  firm  soil.  Therefore,  a 
sandy  soil  is  not  a  good  one  for  wheat ;  neither  is  a 
mucky  soil  much  better ;  because  they  are  both  defi- 
cient in  those  elements  of  fertility  that  are  necessary  to 
form  the  kernels,  and  also  in  that  firmness  which  is 
so  essential  in  a  good  soil  for  wheat.  Yet  I  have  seen 
fair  crops  of  wheat  produced  on  a  sandy  soil. 

Our  aluminous,  heavy,  slippery  clay  soils  are  by  no 
means  the  best  soils  for  the  production  of  either  winter 
or  spring  wheat ;  although  they  will  yield  good  crops 
of  wheat  when  well  drained,  and  thoroughly  pulverized 
and  manured.  Our  country  abounds  in  soils  of  a  mixed 
character,  which  will  produce  a  remunerating  crop  of 

6* 


130  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

wheat  once  in  five  or  six  years,  while  they  cannot  be 
set  down  as  good  wheat  soils ;  and  they  cannot  be  very 
much  improved  for  growing  wheat,  unless  a  vast  amount 
of  clay  were  thoroughly  mingled  with  the  soil.  *" 

Heavy,  slippery  clay  soils  abound  in  wheat-producing 
material.  Therefore,  such  soils  will  not  be  exhausted 
of  their  fertility  as  soon  as  those  will  where  there  is 
but  a  small  proportion  of  clay,  or  no  clay  at  all. 

On  some  soils,  where  sand  predominates,  wheat 
would  not  grow  heavy  enough  to  pay  the  expense  of 
harvesting  it.  And  the  same  is  true  of  soils  where  allu- 
vion constitutes  the  large  proportion  of  the  soil.  A 
sandy  soil  will  furnish  silica  enough  to  form  a  good, 
stiff  straw,  while  a  mucky  soil  will  produce  a  slender 
and  soft  straw,  which  will  fall  down  before  the  grain 
has  matured. 

The  best  soil  for  wheat  is  a  soil  in  which  the  pre- 
dominating characteristics  are  clay  and  loam,  having 
neither  too  much  of  one  nor  too  little  of  the  other. 
The  lighter  loam  soils,  arid  such  alluvions  as  have  been 
brought  from  clayey  localities,  will  often  produce  boun- 
tiful crops  of  excellent  wheat ;  and  sometimes  a  mucky 
soil  will  yield  a  fair  crop  of  this  kind  of  grain.  But 
their  fertility  for  wheat  will  soon  be  exhausted.  Cal- 
careous clays,  gravelly  clays,  aluminous  clays,  as  well 
as  many  soils  that  are  a  mixture  of  all  these  just  named, 
with  good  management — cultivating,  manuring,  and 
draining — will,  almost  always,  yield  fair  crops  of 
wheat. 

R.  L.  Allen,  in  the  American  Farmer's  Book,  says : 
"  Wheat  is  partial  to  a  well -prepared  clay  or  a  heavy 
loam ;  and  this  is  improved  when  it  contains,  either  nat- 
urally or  artificially,  a  large  proportion  of  lime.  Many 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJBIST.  131 

light,  and  all  marly  and  calcareous  soils,  if  in  proper 
condition,  will  give  a  good  yield  of  wheat." 

In  D.  P.  Gardner's  Farmer's  Dictionary,  the  author 
says  :  "Wheat  thrives  best  on  heavy  soils." 

The  author  of  the  Practical  Farmer  says :  "  Wheat 
succeeds  best  on  stout  loams." 

In  Stevens's  Book  of  the  Farm — an  English  work— 
the  writer  says  :  "  Unless  soil  possesses  a  certain  degree 
of  firmness,  that  is,  contains  some  clay,  it  is  not  con- 
sidered adapted  to  the  growth  of  wheat.  At  least,  it  is 
considered  more  profitable  to  sow  barley  upon  it." 
(Read  about  Improving  Soils  for  Wheat,  in  chapter  on 
Soils,  in  the  second  volume  of  my  Young  Farmer's 
Manual.) 

A  practical  farmer  of  Central  New  York  wrote  to  one 
of  the  agricultural  papers  thus :  "  A  firm,  fertile,  and 
dry  soil  is  particularly  adapted  to  wheat,  and  such  soils 
as  have  been  under-drained  are  more  productive,  and 
require  much  less  manure.  Wheat,  whether  winter  or 
spring,  does  best  in  soils  in  which  there  is  a  good  por- 
tion of  clay.  When  the  soil  is  composed  for  the  most 
part  of  muck,  as  occurs  in  many  places  in  ~New  York, 
Canada,  and  some  of  the  Western  States,  it  requires 
much  preparation  before  it  will  produce  well ;  and  such 
soils  can  only  be  made  to  yield  heavy  crops  of  wheat, 
with  profit,  when  clay,  in  some  form,  can  be  supplied." 

WHEAT  ON  CLAY  LOAM. 

The  author  penned  the  following  article  for  the  "In- 
dependent," soon  after  he  assumed  the  editorial  charge 
of  the  agricultural  department  of  that  paper : 

Wheat,  especially  winter  grain,  requires  a  firm  soil, 


132  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

having  in  it  a  preponderance  of  clay.  For  this  reason, 
our  clayey  loams  are  found  to  be  better  adapted  to 
winter  wheat  than  any  other  soil.  A  strong  loam  is 
better  for  winter  wheat  than  a  clay  soil,  although  where 
clay  is  so  abundant  as  to  give  a  soil  the  character  of  a 
rich  stiff  clay,  it  will  produce  excellent  wheat  for  a  long 
succession  of  years.  Still,  when  clay  and  sand  are  com- 
mingled in  the  right  proportion  to  form  a  good  loam, 
there  is  no  other  kind  of  soil  that  is  better  adapted  to 
the  production  of  winter  wheat,  that  will  make  the 
whitest  and  best  fine  flour.  A  sandy  soil  is  too  porous 
for  wheat,  especially  winter  wheat.  Spring  wheat  will 
succeed  much  better  on  sandy  soil  than  winter.  Mucky 
soils  are  quite  objectionable  for  winter  wheat,  because 
they  are  too  light.  The  freezing  in  winter  expands  them 
much  more  than  compact  loams,  or  clays,  especially 
when  they  are  not  well  drained.  This  great  expansion 
disturbs  the  roots  to  such  an  extent  that  but  few  plants 
can  survive  the  great  injury  from  freezing  and  thawing. 
Clay  gives  firmness  and  solidity  to  a  soil.  Sand  ren- 
ders it  sufficiently  porous  to  drain  off  the  superabun- 
dant moisture,  which  is  the  means  of  the  great  expansion 
when  the  soil  freezes ;  and  at  the  same  time  it  renders 
the  soil  sufficiently  porous  for  the  roots  to  spread  readily. 
Another  indispensable  characteristic  of  a  good  soil 
for  wheat  is  dryness.  No  soil,  whatever  may  be  its  com- 
ponent parts,  or  however  fertile  it  may  be,  can  produce 
a  large  yield  of  winter  wheat  when  there  is  an  excess 
of  water  in  it.  What  I  wish  to  be  understood  by  an 
excess  of  water  is,  more  than  the  soil  will  retain  by  capil- 
lary attraction,  or  absorption.  If  a  good  clay  soil,  too 
I  wet  for  wheat,  were  rendered  dry  by  under-drains  three 
deep  and  not  more  than  ten  to  twelve  feet  apart, 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  133 

its  capacity  for  absorbing  the  surplus  wafer  would  be 
greatly  increased ;  and  the  wheat  growing  on  it  would 
be  very  little  injured  by  freezing  and  thawing ;  and  it 
would  suffer  less  for  want  of  moisture  in  a  dry  time. 

Another  important  feature  of  a  good  wheat  soil  is 
a  bountiful  supply  of  nitrogenous  matter  and  silica. 
When  a  soil  is  nearly  destitute  of  these  ingredients,  the 
ears  of  wheat  will  always  be  short  and  light,  and  the 
kernels  of  grain  quite  small.  In  fertile  loams,  there  is 
usually  a  pretty  good  supply  of  both  substances.  Where 
nitrogenous  matter  exists  only  in  limited  abundance,  it 
may  be  supplied  in  good  barn-yard  manure,  made  by 
animals  which  subsist  largely  on  coarse  grain  and  oil- 
meal.  Such  manure  will  always  produce  great  heads 
and  large,  plump  kernels  of  grain.  Silica  is  essential  to 
produce  a  healthy,  bright,  and  stiff  straw.  This  may  be 
supplied  by  spreading  on  a  few  hundred  bushels  of  sand 
per  acre,  after  the  wheat  is  put  in,  and  sowing  eight  to 
ten  bushels  of  unleached  ashes  per  acre,  the  next  spring, 
or  even  during  a  dry  time  in  winter,  when  ashes  would 
not  be  washed  away  by  high  water.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  inferior  wheat  soil  in  our  country  that 
might  be  made  to  yield  remunerating  crops  of  this  kind 
of  grain,  by  following  the  directions  just  given. 

THE  CULTURE  OF  WHEAT  CHEMICALLY  CONSIDERED. 

At  one  of  the  meetings  of  the  New  York  State  Ag- 
ricultural Society,  Hon.  D.  Lee  made  the  following  re- 
marks touching  the  culture  of  wheat,  which,  I  think, 
will  be  read  with  no  little  interest.  He  said : 

"  By  the  aid  of  a  little  practical  science,  good  wheat 
may  be  grown  profitably  in  any  county  in  the  State. 


134  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

"  The  wheat  plant  has  been  raised  in  a  great  variety 
of  artificial  soils,  where  each  ingredient  was  carefully 
weighed,  both  before  and  after  the  plant  was  taken  from 
the  earth.  By  careful  analysis,  what  the  soil  had  lost, 
and  what  the  plant  had  gained,  was  susceptible  of  dem- 
onstration. A  very  large  portion  of  the  elements  of  all 
cultivated  plants  comes  from  the  atmosphere.  The  pre- 
cise amount  will  depend  alike  on  the  composition  of  the 
soil  and  the  nature  of  the  particular  plant  upon  which 
the  experiment  was  made. 

u  I  regard  it  as  a  fact  of  great  practical  importance, 
that  wood  ashes,  even  leached  ashes,  so  abundant  in  the 
southern  tier  of  counties  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
contain  all  the  earthy  elements  of  this  invaluable  bread- 
bearing  plant. 

"  Our  primitive  forests  have  been  for  centuries  draw 
ing  the  above  earthy  constituents  of  wheat  from  the 
soil.  And  instead  of  carefully  preserving  this  indispen- 
sable raw  material  of  good  wheaten  bread,  thousands 
of  bushels  of  leached  ashes  have  been  thrown  away ! 
Being  but  slowly  decomposed  by  the  vital  action  €>f 
plants,  ashes  are  an  enduring  fertilizer,  when  compared 
with  stable  manure.  Mixed  with  quicklime,  their  good 
effects  are  more  speedily  obtained.  Lime  will  render 
alumina,  either  in  the  soil  or  in  leached  ashes,  soluble  in 
water,  so  that  it  can  enter  the  minute  pores  of  roots. 
Clay  in  the  soil  is  always  combined  with  a  large  por- 
tion of  silica,  and  before  it  lias  been  exhausted  by  con- 
tinuous cropping  it  holds  in  combination  considerable 
potash  and  soda.  Lime,  by  combining  with  alumina, 
the  basis  of  clay,  liberates  these  alkalies  and  silica, 
which,  uniting  chemically,  form  soluble  silicates  of  pot- 
ash and  soda.  These  also  enter  into  the  circulating 


THE    WHEAT   CIJLTTJKIST.  135 

nourishment  of  plants,  and  are  decomposed  in  the  stems 
of  grasses  and  cereals.  The  silica  goes  to  make 
vegetable  bone,  to  keep  the  plant  upright,  while  the 
potash  and  soda  go  back  to  the  earth  to  dissolve  as 
before." 


OBGANIC  ELEMENTS  OF  WHEAT. 

I  come  now  to  speak  of  the  organic  elements  of  the 
wheat  plant,  which  form  ninety-six  or  seven  per  cent, 
of  its  substance.  Water  and  its  constituents,  oxygen 
and  hydrogen,  carbon  and  nitrogen,  are  the  four  ele- 
mentary ingredients  of  all  cultivated  plants,  beside  their 
minerals.  As  there  is  no  lack  of  water  or  of  its  ele- 
ments, oxygen  and  hydrogen,  our  attention  will  be  con- 
fined to  obtaining  a  full  supply  of  carbon  and  nitrogen. 
These  are  indispensable,  and  fortunately  nature  has  pro 
vided  an  amount  of  carbon  and  nitrogen  in  the  air,  if 
not  in  the  soil,  more  than  equal  to  all  the  wants  of  veg- 
etation. A  large  portion  of  the  fertilizing  elements  of 
vegetable  mould  in  a  rich  soil  is  carbon,  and  a  small  por- 
tion is  nitrogen ;  both  of  which  are  usually  combined 
with  other  substances.  These  important  elements  are 
often  nearly  exhausted  in  fields  which  have  been  un- 
wisely cultivated ;  and  I  have  paid  much  attention  to 
the  subject  of  cheap  and  practicable  renovation. 

By  the  aid  of  clover  and  buckwheat  dressed  with 
gypsum,  ashes,  lime,  or  manure,  and  ploughed  in,  when  in 
blossom,  much  can  be  done  in  the  way  of  augmenting 
the  rich  vegetable  mould  so  desirable  to  a  certain  degree 
in  all  soils.  Straw,  corn-stalks,  leaves  of  forest  trees, 
and  swamp  muck  made  into  compost  with  lime  and 
ashes,  are  of  great  value.  Charcoal,  well  pulverized 


136  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

and  saturated  with  urine,  I  regard  as  the  cheapest 
and  most  useful  fertilizer  that  can  be  applied  to  a 
poor  soil,  for  the  production  of  wheat  or  almost  any 
other  crop. 

The  earths  contained  in  charcoal,  as  the  analysis  of 
its  ash  demonstrates,  are  identical  with  the  earths  found 
in  the  wheat  plant.  Coal  contains  a  very  large  portion 
of  carbon,  and  will  imbibe  from  the  atmosphere  a  large 
quantity  of  nitrogen  in  the  form  of  ammonia  and  its 
carbonates.  Unlike  stable  manure,  the  salts  of  lime, 
potash,  soda,  and  magnesia,  it  will  not  waste  by  prema- 
ture solution  nor  by  evaporation.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  of  incalculable  value  to  mix  with  the  liquid  and  solid 
excretions  of  all  animals,  to  absorb  and  h'x  in  a  tangible 
condition  those  volatile  fertilizing  elements  which  are 
so  prone  to. escape  beyond  our  reach. 

When  it  is  recollected  that  without  nitrogen  in  some 
form,  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  grow  one  kernel  of  good 
wheat,  and  that  a  pint  of  human  urine,  or  four  quarts 
of  that  of  the  cow,  or  one  quart  of  that  of  the  horse 
fed  on  grain,  contain  nitrogen  enough  to  supply  sixty 
pounds  of  wheat,  we  may  begin  to  understand  some- 
thing of  the  money  value  of  this  animal  product.  Ad- 
ditions cheaply  made  to  even  worn-out  soils — supplying 
them  with  the  comparatively  small  amount  of  ingre- 
dients essential  to  the  production  of  grain,  and  without 
which  wheat  cannot  be  grown — would  richly  repay  the 
farmer,  and  vastly  enhance  the  wealth  of  the  country. 
Analysis  shows  that  a  very  small  portion  of  the  nutri- 
ment of  wheat  comes  from  the  soil ;  but  that  portion 
must  be  restored  in  some  form,  as  lime  or  otherwise,  if 
we  expect  to  make  the  earth  yield  profitable  returns  for 
our  labor. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  137 


How  THE  KERNELS  OF  WHEAT  ARE  FORMED. 

In  a  few  days  after  the  blossoms  of  the  wheat  plant 
have  fallen,  the  tender  kernels  appear  enveloped  in  the 
chaff;  and  the  material  that  forms  the  flour  of  the  grain 
is  in  a  liquid  state,  having  been  brought  np  from  the 
fertile  soil  through  the  medium  of  the  roots,  stems,  and 
leaves  of  the  growing  plants.  At  this  period,  the  ker- 
nels are  much  larger  and  more  plump  than  they  will  be 
after  the  grain  is  fully  matured.  If  the  kernels  be 
crushed  at  this  period  in  the  growth  of  the  wheat,  a 
thick  milky  liquid  will  exude.  After  a  few  days,  this 
fluid  material  changes  to  a  plastic  state. 

The  grain  is  then  said  to  be  in  the  "dough  state." 
"While  the  substance  that  forms  the  kernel  is  in  a  liquid 
condition,  the  grain  is  spoken  of  as  being  in  the  "  milk 
state."  All  the  exquisitely  line  material  that  enters  into 
the  composition  of  the  grain,  is  brought  up  to  the  ear 
in  particles  inconceivably  small,  having  been  picked  up 
by  the  organs  of  the  growing  plant,  and  conveyed  in 
the  fluids  of  the  stem  and  leaves  to  the  kernels.  It  is 
exceedingly  interesting  to  consider  the  untold  number 
of  living  mouths  attached  to  the  numerous  roots  that 
pervade  the  entire  soil,  securing  only  a  choice  morsel 
here  and  there  to  be  carried  up  to  the  head  for  the  pro- 
duction of  seed ;  and  it  is  a  most  interesting  fact  to 
contemplate,  that  the  roots  of  the  wheat  plant  are  so 
exceeding  dainty,  that  they  will  reject  entirely  large 
quantities  of  the  choicest  kind  of  plant  food,  if  it  is  not 
in  exactly  the  right  condition  for  making  a  choice  arti- 
cle of  wheaten  milk.  The  consideration  that  all  the 
choice  wheat  of  commerce  is  the  product  of  a  milky 
substance  which  is  formed  of  a  material  in  the  soil  that 


138  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

is  less  abundant  than  the  honey  which  the  bees  may 
gather  from  the  opening  flowers,  teaches  the  cultivator 
of  the  soil  the  transcendent  importance  of  fertilizing, 
pulverizing,  and  teasing  the  land  by  all  the  mechanical 
means  in  his  power  to  bring  it  into  that  peculiar  state  of 
productiveness,  which  will  supply  the  greatest  amount 
of  available  material  for  the  formation  of  wheat  milk. 

Domestic  goats  that  roam  about  the  streets  of  our 
populous  cities,  are  ever  ready  to  devour  every  sort  of 
garbage,  even  to  brown  wrapping-paper ;  and  their  di- 
gestive organs  are  so  powerful  that  milk  is  formed  by 
these  animals  out  of  the  roughest  and  poorest  qualities 
of  food.  But  the  functions  of  the  growing  wheat  plant 
are  so  delicate,  that  other  plants  which  are  stronger  and 
more  hardy  than  the  wheat  plant,  must  prepare  pabulum 
for  the  roots  of  this  plant  to  feed  upon.  For  this  pur- 
pose there  is  no  other  plant  like  clover  for  transforming 
the  rough  material  in  the  soil  into  available  plant-food, 
such  as  the  organs  of  the  w.heat  plant  will  appropriate 
to  the  production  of  "  wheat  jnilk."  The  hardy  roots 
"of  clover  will  decompose  and  digest,  so  to  speak,  only 
a  very  small  quantity  of  earthy  matter  which  will  form  a 
wheaten  milk,  after  the  ground  has  been  ploughed,  and 
the  clover  roots  have  decayed.  Yet,  if  the  fine  pabu- 
lum is  in  the  soil,  and  if  the  land  be  prepared  properly 
by  thorough  pulverization,  the  roots  of  the  wheat  plants 
will  find  the  little  atoms  which  are  adapted  to  the  pe- 
culiar requirements  of  those  organs  that  produce  the 
seeds. 

The  great  practical  point,  therefore,  for  wheat-grow- 
ers to  consider  is,  fattening  the  soil  with  alumina,  phos- 
phorus, silica,  and  other  fertilizing  substances,  which 
will  afford  an  abundant  supply  of  the  right  kind  of  pab- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  139 

ulum  for  producing  "  wlieaten  milk,"  without  which  a 
bountiful  crop  of  grain  cannot  be  realized. 

Alumina,  being  the  base  of  all  clay  soils,  furnishes 
just  what  is  required  to  produce  large  heads  and  plump 
kernels  of  wheat.  Although  phosphorus,  or  phosphatic 
material  is  the  great  manure  for  a  turnip  crop,  it  is  em- 
inently essential  for  wrheat,  if  it  can  be  applied  to  the 
soil,  say  one  year  or  more  before  the  seed  wheat  is  put 
in.  Silica  must  be  furnished  in  liberal  abundance,  or 
the  straw  of  wheat  will  not  possess  sufficient  stiffness 
to  maintain  an  erect  position  until  the  grain  is  har- 
vested. 


FATTENING  THE  SOIL  FOE  WHEAT. 

After  a  wet  soil  has  l)een  thoroughly  underdrained, 
so  that  there  are  no  apprehensions  that  the  young 
plants  will  be  lifted  out  of  the  ground  by  freezing  and 
thawing ;  after  the  surface  soil  has  been  renovated  with 
clover  and  kept  in  an  excellent  state  of  fertility  by  a 
judicious  system  of  rotation  of  crops  for  several  suc- 
cessive seasons;  after  the  ground  has  been  ploughed, 
reploughed,  and  ploughed  again,  and  again,  and  again, 
and  then  harrowed,  scarified,  teased  with  the  cultivator, 
and  fretted  with  the  roller,  and  vexed  with  the  clod- 
crnsher;  and  after  every  noxious  weed  has  been  ex- 
terminated, root  and  branch,  and  their  leaves,  steins,  and 
radicles  have  been  changed  into  a  fertile  mould,  the 
hopes  of  the  ambitious  husbandman  will  not  be  realized 
in  beholding  a  bountiful  crop  of  the  full  wheat  in  the 
ear,  unless  he  has  fattened  the  soil.  In  this  lies  the 
grand  secret  of  raising  wheat.  Yet  very  few  even  of 
our  best  farmers  understand  that  this  is  the  chief  re- 


14:0  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

quirement  of  the  soil,  after  everything  else  to  appear- 
ance has  been  done  which  is  really  essential. 

Farmers  often  congratulate  themselves,  when  they 
deposit  the  seed  in  a  mellow  seed-bed,  that  *if  any  of 
their  neighbors  are  so  fortunate  as  to  have  a  bountiful 
crop  of  wheat,  they,  most  assuredly,  will  not  fail  to 
reap  an  abundant  harvest.  But  they  do  fail,  simply 
because  the  soil  has  not  been  fattened.  A  field  often 
looks  very  mellow,  at  seedtime,  the  young  plants  attain 
a  fair  size  before  winter,  and  the  growth  of  straw  is 
luxuriant  and  heavy ;  but  at  harvest,  the  heads  of  grain 
are  exceedingly  short  and  the  kernels  small,  because  the 
ground  was  not  properly  fattened  with  those  elements 
of  fertility  wThich  are  required  to  swell  out  the  kernels  like 
grain  just  removed  from  the  steep- vat.  The  experience 
of  every  practical  farmer  will  accord  with  these  sugges- 
tions. We  often  see  wheat,  when  it  is  cradled,  as  high 
as  the  laborers'  heads ;  and  the  sheaves  are  very  large, 
and  numerous  over  the  entire  field.  But  the  ears  yield 
very  little  grain,  because  the  soil  has  not  been  fattened. 

CULTURE  OF  WHEAT  ON  PRAIRIE  SOILS. 

Most  farmers  think  that  the  prairie  soil  in  which  the 
plant  food  has  been  accumulating  for  untold  ages,  is  all 
right  for  the  production  of  a  bountiful  crop  of  wheat. 
Tillage,  they  think,  is  the  chief  desideratum  on  such 
soils.  Thorough  tillage  is  all  that  is  required  for  a  few 
years ;  but  after  a  few  crops  have  been  removed,  the 
yield  of  grain  diminishes,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
soil  has  not  been  fattened  with  a  direct  reference  to 
producing  a  crop  of  wheat.  The  sources  of  fertility 
must  be  husbanded — even  in  the  rich  prairie  soils  of  the 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  14:1 

great  West — in  order  to  be  able  to  raise  bountiful  crops 
of  fair  wheat.  Straw  is  not  what  farmers  desire.  There 
is  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  material  for  making  a 
heavy  burden  of  straw;  but  the  material  for  swelling 
out  large  and  plump  kernels  of  fine  wheat,  is  to  be  found 
only  in  limited  quantities. 

Those  farmers  who  have  attempted  to  grow  wheat  for 
several  successive  years  on  the  prairies,  experience  the 
very  difficulties  that  I  have  alluded  to.  This  fact 
proves,  most  conclusively,  that  thorough  culture  is  emi- 
nently essential  to  a  bountiful  crop  of  wheat ;  and  it 
shows,  also,  that  even  the  fertile  prairie  soils  must  be 
fattened  or  the  wheat  crop  will  be  light. 

The  question  then  arises,  How  may  such  a  task  be 
performed  ?  What  to  do  and  how  to  do  it  comes  in,  at 
this  juncture,  with  wonderful  pertinence.  Well,  what 
do  we  desire  to  do  ?  Why,  simply  to  maintain  a  high 
degree  of  fertility  in  the  soil,  so  as  to  produce  a  bounti- 
ful yield  of  grain.  Straw  is  not  the  object.  A  heavy 
dressing  of  straw  applied  to  the  soil  only  augments  the 
crop  of  straw,  which  is,  in  some  respects,  more  of  a 
nuisance  than  an  advantage.  If  all  the  grain  be  re- 
moved from  the  farm,  and  none  of  the  refuse  of  the 
kernels  be  returned  in  the  form  of  manure  to  fatten  the 
soil,  I  reiterate  what  I  have  so  often  expressed,  that  the 
heads  of  grain  will  be  short,  and  the  kernels  few  and 
small. 

It  will  not  subserve  the  grand  purpose  under  consid- 
eration, to  remove  the  wheat  and  return  the  straw  to 
the  land,  as  many  of  the  proprietors  of  the  prairie  farms 
have  been  accustomed  to  do.  It  is  absolutely  essential 
to  adopt  a  judicious  system  of  rotation  of  crops  in  con- 
nection with  a  system  of  mixed  husbandry,  in  order  to 


142  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

produce  bountiful  crops  of  wheat.  Neat  cattle,  sheep, 
or  swine  must  be  raised  in  connection  with  wheat. 
And  large  crops  of  wheat  cannot  be  grown  where  we 
see  half-starved  stock,  as  the  manure  made  bydean  ani- 
mals, that  are  required  to  subsist  on  straw  and  hay  only, 
will  swell  out  the  kernels  of  grain  but  little  more  than 
if  the  straw  and  hay  were  applied  directly  to  the  soil. 
Nothing  will  be  added  to  straw  and  hay  during  its 
passage  through  stock  into  the  manure  heap  and  event- 
ually to  the  field.  The  grand  object  in  feeding  grain  to 
domestic  animals,  is  to  secure  a  richer  manure  than 
can  be  made  of  straw  and  hay. 

GANG  PLOUGHS  AND  CULTIVATORS. 

In  many  wheat-growing  sections  of  the  country,  gang 
ploughs  are  employed  for  preparing  the  ground  for  a  crop 
of  winter  wheat.  In  other  localities,  "  Ide's  Wheel  Cul- 
tivator," which  is  represented  by  the  acccompanying 
illustration,  is  considered  one  of  the  most  economical, 


m 


FIG.  80.— Ides  Wheel  Cultivator. 


convenient,  and  useful  implements  for  a  farmer/  This 
style  is  manufactured  by  Messrs.  Tracy  &  Greenwood, 
Newark,  Wayne  Co.,  N.  Y.,  in  the  midst  of  a  famous 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  143 

wheat-growing  region,  where  thousands  of  this  kind  of 
two-horse  cultivator  are  employed  instead  of  a  plough. 
The  teeth  of  this  cultivator  are  made  of  steel,  with  the 
lower  ends  spread  out  so  as  to  form  a  broad,  flat  edge,  in 
such  a  form  as  to  be  self-sharpening.  The  excentrics  gauge 
the  depth  at  which  the  teeth  are  to  enter  the  ground. 
By  means  of  levers,  the  teeth  can  be  elevated  six  inches 
above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  in  a  few  seconds  ;  or 
they  can  be  adjusted  to  run  at  any  desired  depth,  from 
one  inch  to  six  inches.  It  is  an  excellent  implement  for 
putting  wheat  ground  in  order  ;  and  there  are  numerous 
other  instances  where  this  cultivator  may  be  used  with 
eminent  satisfaction  and  efficiency. 

The  wheels  make  it  run  very  steadily,  even  on  rough 
land.  This  style  of  cultivators  is  employed  to  a  large 
extent  in  Central  New  York  and  in  Canada,  for  culti- 
vating summer  fallows ;  and  they  save  an  immense 
amount  of  labor.  In  ten  seconds  the  frame  and  all  the 
teeth  can  be  elevated  several  inches  above  the  surface 
of  the  ground,  so  that  the  implement  can  be  transported 
conveniently  from  place  to  place,  while  resting  on  the 
wheels.  The  teeth  are  strong,  and  with  decent  usage, 
such  a  cultivator  will  last  a  long  time,  and  perform  an 
untold  amount  of  service.  It  is  a  very  unusual  occur- 
rence to  see  such  a  cultivator  clogged  with  sods  and 
stubble. 


ABOUT  SUMMER  FALLOWS. 

The  time  has  been  when  summer  fallows  were  very 
much  in  vogue  ;  and  most  of  our  best  farmers  thought, 
that,  in  order  to  raise  a  good  crop  of  winter  wheat,  the 
land  must  be  summer  fallowed  and  ploughed,  not  less 


144:  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

than  three  or  four  times  ;  and,  sometimes,  I  have  known 
farmers  to  plough  summer  fallows  five  times  before  the 
1st  of  September.  And  those  farmers  that  were  most 
accustomed  to  summer-fallow  their  fields  for  a  crop  of 
wheat,  cherished  the  idea  that  every  ploughing  increased 
the  crop  of  grain  sufficiently  to  remunerate  for  the  labor 
performed. 

Where  land  is  infested  with  noxious  weeds,  or  is  filled 
with  the  seed  of  pernicious  plants,  it  may  be  advisable 
to  summer-fallow.  But  I  think  the  better  way  is  to 
cultivate  a  crop  of  Indian  corn,  instead  of  summer-fal- 
lowing the  ground.  If  the  field  be  overrun  with  elder 
bushes,  Canada  thistles,  dock,  daisies,  or  weeds  of  this 
character,  apply  a  heavy  dressing  of  manure,  late  in  the 
spring,  and  grow  a  crop  of  Indian  corn.  By  ploughing 
the  ground  late  in  the  spring,  the  corn  will  get  the  start 
of  the  weeds,  and  maintain  the  ascendency,  during  the 
growing  season,  with  but  little  hand  labor.  Bead  about 
Summer  Fallows  in  the  second  volume  of  my  Young 
Farmer's  Manual. 

ALDEN'S  QUACK  RAKE. 

The  illustration  herewith  given,  represents  an  imple- 
ment constructed  with  reference  to  the  wants  of  farm- 
ers in  localities  where  quack  grass,  or  couch  grass,  has 
taken  possession  of  the  soil.  This  implement  was  in- 
vented by  Alden  &  Co.,  Auburn,  K  Y.,  in  a  region  of 
country  where  this  pernicious  grass  abounds  to  a  great 
extent. 

The  teeth  are  made  of  iron,  about  three-eighths  of  an 
inch  thick  and  eight  inches  long,  each  one  having  a  nut 
on  the  upper  end.  The  wood  should  be  of  the  firmest 
kind  of  hard-wood  timber,  about  five  feet  long  and  two 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 


145 


by  three  inches  square.  The  implement  is  guided  by  a 
pair  of  thills  which  are  used  to  guide  Alden's  Horse 
Hoe,  as  shown  in  this  illustration. 

The  manner  of  using  this  rake  is  as  follows  :  After 
the  grass  sod  has  decayed,  use  the  rake  as  a  harrow  is 
employed.  About  every  three  or  four  rods  across  the 
field,  stop  the  horse,  draw  the  rake  back,  and  thus  clear 
the  teeth  of  the  numerous  roots  which  have  been  gath- 
ered by  them  in  their  passage  through  the  soil.  Let  the 
ground  be  raked  over  and  over,  until  every  quack  root 


FKJ.  81. —Alden's  Quack-Grass  Rake. 

has  been  collected  and  dropped  in  a  row  on  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  (See  a  cut  and  description  of  quack 
grass,  and  another  quack  rake,  in  my  second  volume  of 
Young  Farmer's  Manual.) 

WHEAT  AFTER  SPRING  CROPS. 

A  farmer  of  Orleans  County,  K  Y.,  wrote  to  the 
"  Cultivator  "  thus  :  "  There  appears  to  be  great  need  of 
doing  something  to  induce  farmers  generally  to  sow  less 


146  THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 

wheat  after  spring  crops.  Not  but  what  good  crops  are 
sometimes  grown  in  that  way ;  but  because  the  course 
pursued  by  a  large  portion  of  wheat-growers,  makes  it 
necessary  to  make  a  good  summer-fallow,  in  orddr  to  be 
at  all  sure  of  raising  a  good  crop  of  wheat — say  of  from 
25  to  30  bushels  to  the  acre.  This  necessity  is  very 
strongly  shown  by  the  large  amount  of  poor  wheat  now 
on  the  ground,  and  that  has  been  harvested  during  the 
last  two  or  three  years.  Probably  three-fourths  of  this 
wheat  was  sown  after  spring  crops  ;  and  the  principal 
part  on  land  that,  if  well  summer-fallowed,  or  SOWTII  on 
a  good  clover  lea,  would  have  given  a  good  crop.  But, 
by  being  put  in  rather  hurriedly  and  late,  as  it  almost 
always  has  to  be,  when  sown  after  spring  crops,  and,  as 
is  more  especially  the  case  now,  when  labor  is  scarce  and 
high,  wheat  does  not  generally  get  a  sufficiently  strong 
and  vigorous  start  in  the  fall,  to  enable  it  to  withstand 
all  of  the  vicissitudes  of  a  bad  winter  and  spring,  and 
bring  it  forward  sufficiently  early  to  escape  the  midge 
and  rust.  'Not  but  good  crops  of  wheat  can  be  grown 
after  spring  crops,  and  be  made  very  profitable,  if  sown 
on  land  sufficiently  dry  and  rich  ;  but  because  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  land  thus  sown  is  lacking  in  one  or 
both  of  these  important  requisites.  Consequently,  while 
I  do  not  wish  to  stop  all  farmers  from  sowing  wheat 
after  spring  crops,  for  there  is  some  very  good  wheat 
grown  in  this  way,  I  would  only  have  it  sown  where  the 
land  is  sure  to  produce  good  crops  ;  and  I  would  be  very 
glad  to  see  all  of  our  wheat  land  put  in  a  condition  to 
produce  heavy  crops  without  summer-fallowing.  But 
we  have  to  deal  with  circumstances  as  they  actually 
exist,  not  as  we  would  have  them. 

"  Now,  the  real  practical  point  for  the  farmer  to  con- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  14:7 

sider,  and  that  should  control  his  decisions  in  regard  to 
what  crops  to  raise,  is,  that  wheat  has  a  good  many  ene- 
mies and  adverse  circumstances  to  overcome,  to  gener- 
ally produce  good  crops ;  and  these  can  only  be  over- 
come and  guarded  against  by  a  good  strong  growth  in  the 
fall ;  and  that  the  principal  part  of  our  wheat  lands  are 
not  in  a  condition  to  give  wheat  such  a  start  when  sown 
after  spring  crops,  though  a  good  summer  fallow,  or  a 
clean  one,  or  two-year  old  clover  lea,  would  give  a 
heavy  crop.  And  though  it  may  seem  like  lost  time  to 
keep  land  in  ah  unproductive  state,  while  making  a 
summer  fallow,  yet  there  are  many  reasons  why  a  heavy 
crop  on  a  summer  fallow  is  better  and  more  profitable 
than  a  light  crop,  or  partial  failures,  after  spring  crops. 
Prominent  among  these  is  the  fact  that,  in  sowing  after 
spring  crops,  the  land  has  to  be  prepared  twice  in  the 
same  season,  seed  found  for  both  the  spring  and  fall 
crops,  and  the  ground  harvested  over  twice,  while  both 
crops  may  not  be  as  valuable  as  one  heavy  crop  of  wheat, 
that  may  be  grown  on  a  summer  fallow  in  the  same 
time.  Another  advantage  is,  that  a  summer  fallow 
gives  a  good  chance  to  clean  land  that  is  foul.  There  are 
many  pests  to  grain  crops,  like  wire  grass  (Poa  com- 
pressa)  quack  grass  (Triticum  repens),  and  Canada 
thistles  (Cirsium  ar  verose),  that  seem  to  grow  all  the 
better  for  the  cultivation  usually  given  when  wheat  is 
sown  after  spring  crops  ;  but  which  the  thorough  culti- 
vation in  making  a  good  summer  fallow,  in  the  usually 
hot  and  dry  months  of  July  and  August,  will  be  very 
likely  to  subdue — at  least  to  a  sufficient  extent  to  pre- 
vent their  injuring  the  succeeding  crop  of  wheat."  If 
land  is  at  all  disposed  to  be  wet,  summer  fallowing  will 
not  improve  its  productiveness. 


148  THE  WHEAT  CULTUEIST. 

SUMMER  FALLOWING  FOR  WHEAT  IN  OLD  VIRGINIA. 

J.  W.  Hoff,  M.D.,  Wirt  Court  House,  Ya.,  writes: 
"  Wheat  is  sowed  on  fallow  ground,  and  after  cornccrops. 
The  latter  is  put  in  with  the  old  shovel-plough,  and  the 
former  generally  with  the  harrow.  The  varieties  raised 
are  the  red  chaff,  the  white  wheat,  and  the  Mediterra- 
nean. The  Mediterranean  is  considered  to  be  the  surest 
crop ;  but  the  yield  is  not  so  great  as,  and  the  flour  is 
inferior  to,  white  wheat  and  red  chaff.  Guano  is  not 
used,  nor  any  other  manures,  save,  now  and  then,  a  few 
wTagon-loads  of  barn-yard  manure  to  the  acre ;  so  that  it 
is  hard  to  tell  what  our  lands  would  do  if  properly  ma- 
nured and  fertilized.  Under  the  present  mode  of  cul- 
tivation, the  average  yield  per  acre,  of  clean  wheat,  is 
about  8  bushels ;  although  some  land  will  bring  from 
20  to  30  bushels  per  acre  ;  and  I  believe  that  the  greater 
portion  of  our  tillable  land  would,  if  properly  fertilized 
and  cultivated,  bring,  upon  an  average,  20  bushels  per 
acre.  The  rust  damages  the  wheat  in  this  section  of  the 
country  more  or  less  every  year.  In  1850  it  caused 
almost  an  entire  failure  of  the  wheat  crops  in  all  North- 
western Virginia.  Early  wheat  suffers  less  from  rust 
than  late  wheat.  To  avoid  the  rust,  farmers  should  sow 
their  wheat  in  the  early  part  of  September,  when  the 
season  is  favorable.  Of  the  varieties  of  wheat  mentioned, 
the  Mediterranean  is  less  liable  to  take  the  rust.  Whe- 
ther this  is  owing  to  any  peculiarity  in  the  growth  of 
the  wheat,  its  nature,  or  whether  it  be  from  its  ear- 
lier growth  and  maturity,  is  not  yet  decided  ;  but  it  is 
generally  believed  to  be  owing  to  its  earlier  maturity." 

A  farmer  in  New  York  wrote  against  the  practice  of 
summer-fallowing,  and  stated  that  land  should  be  ploughed 


THE    WHEAT   CULTTJRIST.  149 

but  once  for  a  crop  of  winter  wheat ;  to  which  T.  L. 
Meiiiikheim,  Surry  County,  Va.,  replied,  in  the  "  Cul- 
tivator," thus : 

"  In  the  summer  cf  1856,  I  had  a  ten-acre  lot,  which 
was  completely  overrun  with  sorrel  and  wire  grass. 
The  soil,  a  loose  sand.  I  wished  to  seed  to  wheat  in 
autumn,  but  was  told  that  the  land  was  so  full  of  acids, 
that  unless  I  limed  it,  I  would  get  no  wheat.  Being  un- 
able to  procure  lime  for  less  than  ten  cents  per  bushel, 
and  then  be  obliged  to  ^fifteen  miles  for  it,  I  concluded 
to  try  to  expel,  instead  of  correcting  the  acids.  When  a 
boy,  I  had  heard  an  old  Long  Island  farmer,  when  speak- 
ing of  a  drought,  remark,  that  '  when  the  land  becomes 
thoroughly  dried  out,  it  becomes  sweetened.'  On  the 
strength  of  that,  I  started  my  plough,  ploughing,  harrow- 
ing, and  reploughing  from  June  until  October.  I  was 
told  I  was  '  killing '  my  land  ;  but  as  land  is  cheap  here,  I 
thought  it  '  wouldn't  matter  ; '  at  all  events,  it  would  kill 
the  grass  too.  One  acre  of  the  field  I  ploughed  but  twice  ; 
the  other  nine  acres  were  ploughed  jive  times,  and  har- 
rowed ten  times.  In  October  I  manured  the  whole  field 
with  barn-yard  manure,  thirty  cartloads  per  acre,  ploughed 
it  down,  and  seeded  to  wheat  and  timothy,  and  har 
rowed  until  the  field  had  the  appearance  of  a  garden 
seed-bed ;  the  one  acre  included. 

"  Now  for  the  result.  The  nine  acres  yielded  ten 
bushels  per  acre  of  fine  plump  wheat,  sold  at  $1.70  per 
bushel,  and  netting  me  $4.25  per  acre,  besides  the  in- 
creased facility  of  cultivation.  I  can  now  have  it  ploughed 
at  $1  per  acre,  when  before  it  was  hard  work  at  $2  per 
acre.  The  one  acre  ploughed  but  twice,  yielded  three 
bushels  of  poor  wheat,  worth  but  $1  per  bushel,  costing 
me  $2.73  per  bushel.  Over  the  nine  acres  there  was 


150  THE  WHEAT   CTJLTURIST. 

quite  a  '  tolerable  catch '  of  timothy  ;  over  the  one  acre 
it  never  came  up  sufficiently  to  be  visible.  Instead  of 
the  soil  '  drying  out,'  it  actually  became  more  moist 
after  each  ploughing." 

REMARKS. — The  reader  must  recollect  that  the  soil 
alluded  to  in  the  foregoing  paragraph  was  a  very  light, 
sandy  soil,  and  in  a  poor  state  of  fertility.  By  proper 
cultivation,  with  a  dressing  of  rich  barn-yard  manure  and 
red  clover,  the  yield  of  wheat  could  be  increased  two- 
fold, with  less  labor  than  was  required  to  produce  such 
a  light  crop  as  the  writer  has  reported. 

THE  OBJECT  OF  SUMMER  FALLOWS. 

J.  J.  Thomas,  associate  editor  of  the  "  Cultivator 
and  Country  Gentleman,"  writes  thus  in  relation  to 
summer  fallows  :  "  Of  late  years  we  see  but  few  sum- 
mer fallows — they  seem  to  have  i  gone  out  of  fashion  ' 
with  the  wheat  crop  ;  still  they  have  their  uses,  and  we 
Avill  give  a  brief  statement  of  the  same. 

."  The  object  of  summer  fallowing  is  threefold — to 
clean,  to  deepen,  and  to  mellow  the  soil. 

"  1.  Clean  culture  is  desirable ;  because  weeds  detract 
from  the  perfection  of  the  cultivated  crops  grown  at 
the  same  time  on  the  same  soil.  The  useless  plants 
take  up  the  elements  which  would  otherwise  be  taken 
up  by  the  useful — a  trite  statement,  but  one  too  little 
heeded  by  the  farmer.  Hence  the  summer  fallow  is 
employed  to  free  the  soil  of  weeds — (a  weed,  it  should 
be  remembered,  .is  i  any  plant  out  of  place ') — by  the 
destruction  of  their  growth  and  of  their  seeds  which 
may  be  contained  in  the  soil.  A  true  fallow  is  bare  of 
all  vegetable  growth — it  rests  from  the  production  of 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  151 

plants  of  any  kind.  This  character  should  always  be 
given  them  as  far  as  possible.  The  ploughing  should  be 
performed  early — the  sod  carefully  inverted — if  sandy, 
turning  flat — if  clayey,  lap  furrows — and  doing  the 
work  as  regards  moisture,  when  it  will  be  most  effective. 
Boiling  will  be  beneficial  on  most  soils — after  this,  the 
harrow  thoroughly  employed,  and  again  the  wheel-cul- 
tivator or  gang-plough,  so  as  to  destroy  the  weeds  which 
may  appear,  as  well  as  to  excite  the  germination  of 
those  which  lie  dormant  in  the  soil,  that  they  also  may 
be  destroyed. 

"  2.  Deep  culture  is  beneficial  because  it  enlarges  the 
capacity  of  the  soil  to  supply  nourishment  to  plants. 
A  deep,  free  soil  will  allow  the  fine  rootlets  of  growing 
crops  to  extend  through  it  at  pleasure  ;  and  such  a  soil 
is  filled  with  their  roots  in  a  manner  surprising  to  every 
one  on  a  first  examination.  Numerous  healthy  roots 
insure  a  vigorous  growth  of  that  part  of  the  plant  above 
ground — such  as  is  never  observed  on  a  hard  and  shal 
low  soil.  "We  believe  deep  ploughing  has  never  failed 
to  benefit  well-drained  soils  (not  naturally  too  porous 
and  light  already),  unless  the  subsoil  was  of  a  very  pe- 
culiar character.  In  such  cases,  deepening  will  prove 
beneficial  if  gradually  performed — an  inch  or  two  may  be 
brought  to  the  surface  at  each  ploughing  without  injury. 

"  3.  Fine  culture — the  thorough  pulverization  of  the 
soil — is  also  necessary  to  its  full  productiveness.  The 
ground  should  be  open  to  the  influences  of  air  and 
moisture — should  be  free  to  the  shooting  of  the  most 
minute  rootlets  of  the  growing  crop.  The  ameliorating 
effects  of  fallowing  are  in  part  due  to  the  thorough  dis- 
integration of  the  soil  by  mechanical  working  and  long 
exposure  to  atmospheric  influences.  Little  addition  of 


152  THE    WHEAT    CULTTJKIST. 

fertilizing  elements  may  be  made,  but  those  lying  inert 
concealed  in  the  debris  of  rocks,  or  waiting  admixture 
to  excite  into  action,  are  reduced  or  enlivened,  and  thus 
add  to  the  power  of  the  soil.  A  mellow  soil  attracts, 
as  well  as  takes  up,  more  moisture  than  a  hard  one.  It 
is  thus  more  likely  to  be  in  a  state  fitted  for  receiving 
benefit  from  the  air,  from  its  own  ever-working  forces, 
and  from  the  mechanical  stirring  and  manipulation  it 
receives. 

"  Thorough  culture,  lastly,  is  the  only  profitable  way 
of  managing  a  summer  fallow,  or  any  part  of  the  farm. 
To  plough  carelessly,  with  half-turned  furrows  and  fre- 
quent balks ;  to  leave  the  field  for  \veeks  to  grow  up 
to  grass  and  weeds  ;  to  plough  but  four  or  six  inches 
deep  where  one  owns  good  soil  much  farther  down,  is 
some  distance  from  the  right  way — from  the  true  uses 
of  the  summer  fallow." 


ADVANTAGES  OF  SUMMER  FALLOWING. 

On  this  subject,  "  Colman's  Rural  World  "  says  :  "- 
"It  is  well  known  that  ploughing  benefits  land. 
This  is  especially  the  case  with  clay  land,  which  is 
apt  to  have  suffered  from  treatment,  of  which  wet 
ploughing  is  a  noted  example.  .  The  sun  and  frost  have 
an  ameliorating  influence.  But  the  influence  is  confined 
mainly  to  the  surface.  Hence,  frequent  ploughing,  in 
its  course,  exposes  all  the  soil;  and  even  the  subsoil, 
which  has  never  seen  the  light,  can  then  with  great  bene- 
fit be  brought  up.  That  is  the  time  to  convert  this  raw 
clay  soil  or  any  under-soil,  into  mellow,  useful  ground. 
"  Land  .can  be  fallowed  and  lie  idle  one  year  with 
profit.  The  soil  is  so  thoroughly  improved,  that  in  this 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  153 

respect  alone  it  pays.  The  weeds  are  exterminated, 
which  is  another  point  scarcely  second  in  importance, 
and  in  some  farms  is  of  the  first  importance.  It  give? 
a  chance  for  deeper  tillage,  preparing  the  heretofore  un- 
appropriated soil,  which  serves  as  so  much  addition,  or 
manure,  to  the  tillable  ground.  Further,  fallowing  the 
soil  prepares  it  for  a  succession  of  crops  without  manure, 
equal  to  the  benefit  of  a  considerable  quantity  of  ma- 
nure without  this  preparation.  Besides,  it  gives  a  most 
excellent  chance  to  dispose  of  manure.  The  rawest 
manure  can  be -used  in  such  a  case  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, the  soil  acting  upon  the  manure,  and  the  manure 
upon  the  soil,  by  fermentation  and  mutual  chemical 
effect.  Lime  can  also  be  used  with  profit ;  so  can  salt. 
In  the  fallow  is  the  farmer's  great  advantage,  when  his 
farm  '  is  run  out '  and  has  become  weedy,  as  it  general- 
ly will  be  after  many  years  of  cultivation.  The  labor, 
though  it  occupies  time,  is  easy.  Land  requires  rest 
once  in  a  while  to  recruit  its  energies  ;  and  stirring  the 
soil  is  one  of  the  most  effective  means  of  doing  it,  if  done 
during  the  rains  and  heat  of  a  whole  season." 

SUMMER  FALLOWING  AN  EXHAUSTING  SYSTEM. 

Summer  fallowing  is  an  exhausting  system  of  cultiva- 
tion. The  entire  soil  is  occupied  more  or  less  with  roots 
of  some  kinds  of  plants,  which,  when  the  ground  is  ex- 
posed to  the  influences  of  a  burning  sun  and  summer 
showers,  in  connection  with  repeated  ploughings  and  har- 
rowing, reduces  everything  that  rain  and  sunshine  can  de- 
compose, to  nourishment  for  plants.  The  soil  that  is 
being  summer-fallowed  does  not  dry  out  as  soon  as  if  there 
were  a  crop  on  it.  If  a  strip  a  few  rods  wide  have  a 

7* 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

crop  growing  on  it,  and  another  be  summer-fallowed,  the 
latter  will  be  quite  moist  in  hot  weather,  while  the  for- 
mer feels  dry  to  the  touch.  Consequently,  the  moisture, 
heat,  and  frequent  stirring  greatly  facilitate  the  de- 
composition of  such  portions  as  contain  mineral  sub- 
stances that  enter  largely  into  the  composition  of  grain 
or  grass.  By  this  means,  plant-food  accumulates  much 
faster  than  if  the  soil  were  shaded  by  a  growing  crop. 
Soda,  lime,  magnesia,  potash,  and  silica,  which  are  essen- 
tial to  produce  a  good  crop  of  wheat,  are  rendered  avail- 
able to  plants  in  greater  abundance  by  summer  fallow- 
ing. We  know  this  is  so  from  the  fact  that  a  summer 
fallow  always  produces  a  larger  crop  of  grain.  This  is 
the  result  of  summer  fallowing  for  a  few  successive 
years.  But,  after  three  or  four  years  have  passed  by, 
there  will  be  a  reaction.  Summer  fallowing  will  fail  in 
its  efficacy.  This  fact  teaches  us,  that  the  fertility  of 
the  soil  cannot  be  maintained  long  by  naked  fallows. 
It  is  better  for  all  soils  to  be  shaded.  Their  fertility  can 
be  maintained  longer  and  at  less  expense  by  growing 
some  kind  of  crops  which  shall  be  worked  into  manure, 
than  by  cultivating  a  naked  fallow.  See  second  volume 
of  my  Young  Farmer's  Manual. 

WINTER  FALLOWING  FOR  WHEAT. 

A  practical  wheat-grower  wrote  to  the  "  Country 
Gentleman,"  that  in  America  the  climate  is  particu- 
larly well  adapted  for  the  making  of  good  winter 
fallows.  In  fact,  winter  fallows  may  be  made  more 
serviceable  than  summer  ones  are  in  England ;  for,  by 
commencing  as  soon  as  the  crop  is  off,  there  are  three 
months  of  better  weather  for  killing  weeds  and  sunning 


THE    WHEAT    CIJLTURIST.  155 

the  soil  than  any  in  that  country.  Of  late  years,  sum- 
mer fallows  have  been  nearly  discontinued  in  England, 
rye  and  vetches  being  grown  as  a  crop  to  be  eaten  on 
the  land  by  sheep,  on  the  heavy  clays,  and  turnips  or 
other  roots  on  all  friable  farms.  Formerly,  the  fallows 
were  worked  chiefly  in  June,  July,  and  August.  But 
here,  they  can  be  attended  to  better  after  a  grain  crop 
is  off,  in  August,  September,  and  October ;  and  if  left 
at  the  latter  part  of  the  last-mentioned  month,  so  that 
it  is  impossible  for  any  water  to  lie  soaking  it,  there  will 
be  a  splendid  seed-bed  in  the  spring,  equal  to  any  of 
the  beds  so  carefully  prepared  by  the  wealthy  gentle- 
men's gardeners  in  Europe.  The  farmer  having  plenty 
of  stock,  can  haul  the  dung  where  it  is  required  for 
producing  a  crop  of  roots  ;  and  thus,  with  such  a  long 
period  in  the  early  part  of  fall  and  latter  part  of  sum- 
mer to  prepare  for  everything,  his  ground  will  be  far 
ahead  of  the  Englishman ;  because,  the  latter  cannot 
harvest  his  grain  till  nearly  two  months  later  than  the 
American  ;  and  consequently,  is  unable  so  effectually 
to  clean  it,  more  especially  as  the  sun  is  much  weaker 
there  than  here.  Again,  the  frost,  here,  pulverizes  much 
more  effectually  than  there.  Yet,  there  are  hundreds 
of  acres  of  winter  fallowing  there,  to  one  here.  They 
have  an  average  of  ten  dollars  per  acre  per  annum,  rent, 
to  pay,  which  Americans  know  nothing  of. 

By  adopting  the  system  of  preparing  the  soil  for  a 
crop  of  wheat  during  autumn  and  winter,  the  grain 
might  always  be  put  in  quite  early,  leaving  ample  op- 
portunity for  cultivating  roots. 

Generally,  the  weather  is  very  showery  for  some 
weeks  after  the  breaking  up  of  winter,  so  that  plough- 
ing and  harrowing  are  much  delayed  in  consequence  of 


156  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

there  being  too  much  moisture  to  have  the  land  work 
well.  It  may  be  fine  and  do  admirably  for  a  day  or 
two,  when  a  wet  day  prevents  going  on  with  the  job ; 
and  a  second  day  is  lost,  while  the  soil  is  drying.  A 
great  deal  of  delay  might  be  avoided  by  preparing  in 
the  autumn,  and  attending  to  the  watercourses,  if  it  is 
low  land,  so  that  no  water  lies  upon  the  soil ;  when  it 
will  be  found,  after  this  winter  fallowing,  that  oats,  peas, 
or  any  spring  grain,  will  do  much  better  drilled  in  at 
once,  the  first  day  the  land  is  dry,  than  if  put  in  on 
ground  which  is  hurriedly  cultivated,  leaving  the  stones 
;;nd  stumps  to  be  in  the  way  at  harvest,  or  treading  and 
packing  down  the  soil  to  its  great  injury.  Winter  fal- 
lowing effectually  and  generally  carried  out,  where  the 
soil  is  compact  and  heavy,  would  regenerate  agriculture. 
~No  business  succeeds  without  forecast,  and  no  class  use 
less  forethought  than  the  farmer.  Suppose  a  store- 
keeper only  paid  attention  to  half  his  customers,  and  at 
seasons  of  the  year  almost  shut  up  shop,  would  he  be 
more  unwise  than  the  farmer  who  loses  the  whole  of 
the  fall,  and  does  not  prepare  his  land  for  a  crop  of 
spring  grain  ? 

A  great  deal  of  good  judgment  should  be  exercised 
about  winter-fallowing  very  light  soils,  which  never  bake 
in  hot  weather.  When  there  is  a  large  percentage  of 
alumina  and  lime  in  a  soil,  so  that  a  furrow-slice  rolls 
over  more  like  a  huge  slab  of  putty  than  the  dirt  of  a 
fertile  soil,  when  the  land  is  being  ploughed,  the  fertil: 
ity  of  the  soil  can  be  wonderfully  improved  by  winter 
fallowing.  Read  about  Fall  Ploughing  in  my  second 
volume  of  Young  Farmer's  Manual.  Light  soils  are 
sometimes  injured  more  by  winter  fallowing  than  they 
are  benefited.  But,  whatever  may  be  the  character  of 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  157 

the  soil — whether  light  or  heavy — water  should  never  be 
allowed  to  stand,  from  day  to  day,  on  any  portion,  as 
standing  water  drowns  the  soil,  and  impairs  its  produc- 
tiveness far  more  than  most  people  are  accustomed  to 
suppose. 

DEEP  PLOUGHING  FOE  WHEAT. 

In  a  late  number  of  the  American  Farmer,  Rochester, 
!N".  Y.,  the  editor  penned  the  following  excellent  sugges- 
tions in  regard  to  deep  ploughing  for  wheat,  which  coin- 
cide with  .my  own  views  very  well,  except  that  the 
point  with  reference  to  keeping  the  best  soil  on  the  sur- 
face, is  not  made  as  clear  as  it  should  have  been.  Let 
the  soil  be  pulverized  as  deep  as  practicable  ;  but  let  the 
mould — the  best  soil — be  retained  at  the  surface.  The 
writer  says  :  "  The  importance  to  the  farmer  of  under- 
standing the  habits  and  peculiar  characteristics  of  the 
plants  he  cultivates,  as  well  as  the  nature  and  quality  of 
his  soil,  is  frequently  illustrated.  Let  us  take  the  wheat 
plant  for  instance,  and  we  find,  by  almost  common  con- 
sent, it  is  best  provided  for  in  a  shallow  seed-bed. 
Very  deep  ploughing  is  thought  to  be  not  only  unneces- 
sary, but  absolutely  injurious.  The  young  plant  seems 
to  need  a  firm  under-stratum  not  far  from  the  surface  to 
imbed  its  roots  in,  and  with  this  advantage  they  withstand 
the  '  throwing  out '  produced  by  alternate  thawings  and 
freezings,  better  than  when  the  soil  has  been  recently 
stirred  to  a  very  considerable  depth. 

"  No  one  at  this  time  of  day  can  overlook,  or  be  ignor 
ant  of  the  great  advantages  to  the  soil  generally,  of  deep 
ploughing.  1st.  It  opens  a  much  larger  amount  of  soil 
to  the  range  of  roots,  giving  much  more  liberal  pastur 
age  than  they  could  otherwise  get. 


158  THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

"  2d.  It  increases  very  largely  the  supply  of  nutriment, 
by  allowing  the  access  of  air,  and  by  the  process  of 
weathering,  acting  upon  the  mineral  elements  of  the 
soil. 

4 

"  3d.  It  preserves  an  equal  quantity  of  moisture  in  the 
soil.  We  seldom  have  a  rain  so  great  as  to  produce  an 
unhealthy  stagnation  of  water  about  the  roots  of  plants 
set  in  a  soil  seven  or  eight  inches  deep,  and,  on  the  con- 
trary, we  seldom  have  a  drought  of  so  long  continuance 
as  to  extract  all  the  moisture  to  that  depth. 

"  These,  and  other  known  advantages  from  deep 
ploughing,  we  might  dwell  upon ;  and  apart  from  the  well- 
known  fact  above  alluded  to,  it  would  hardly  be  supposed 
that  any  crop,  of  whatever  character,  would  be  exempt- 
ed from  the  good  influences  of  the  practice. 

"  We  must  make  a  proper  distinction,  however,  be- 
tween a  natural  subsoil,  indurated  and  rendered  imperv- 
ious to  the  action  of  the  air  by  centuries  of  rest — its  orig- 
inal hardness  and  impenetrability  aggravated  by  a  long 
course  of  continuous  treading,  in  ploughing  the  surface 
soil — and  that  firm,  mellow  body  of  earth,  which  is  pro- 
duced by  deep  cultivation.  « 

"  It  is  this  firm,  yet  generous  subsoil,  which  forms  so 
valuable  a  matrix  for  the  roots  of  the  wheat  plant,  and 
enables  them  to  resist  the  loosening  effects  of  alternate 
frosts  and  thaws  during  winter.  This  important  dis- 
tinction, it  will  be  observed,  allows  nothing  to  be 
detracted  from  the  argument  in  favor  of  deep  ploughing. 
It  is  only  when  the  previous  working  has  been,  indeed, 
most  thorough,  that  the  wheat  reaps  a  due  advantage 
from  the  shallow  ploughing.  The  understratum,  though 
somewhat  compacted  in  comparison  with  the  loose  sur- 
face soil,  is  so  enlivened  by  the  former  breaking  up, 


THE   WHEAT   CULTCJRIST.  159 

that  the  tender  rootlets  take  firm  hold  and  keep  their 
place. 

The  advantage  of  this  comparative  firmness  of  the 
substratum  is  apparent  in  the  practice,  now  so  common, 
of  seeding  corn  land  to  wheat,  without  any  ploughing 
beyond  what  has  been  given  to  the  corn.  The  action  of 
the  tines  of  the  wheat  drill,  or  any  such  scratching  of  the 
surface  as  will  give  the  seeds  a  slight  covering,  is  found 
to  answer  all  necessary  purposes  even  on  tolerably  tena- 
cious clays.  It  is  insisted,  indeed,  after  much  expe- 
rience, that  this-  is  the  most  successful  practice  for  corn- 
land  seeding." 

DEEP  AND  SHALLOW  PLOUGHING  FOE  WINTER  WHEAT. 

On  this  subject,  a  wrifer  in  the  "Cultivator  and 
Country  Gentleman  "  thus  speaks  of  deep  and  shallow 
ploughing  for  wheat.  He  says : 

"  I  have  heard  some  farmers  argue  that  winter  wheat 
requires  a  deep,  mellow  soil ;  and  to  prove  their  theory, 
they,  would  adduce  instances  in  which  the  roots  of 
wiieat  plants  have  been  followed  downward  several  feet 
deep.  I  have  my  mind  on  an  instance  where  a  well- 
digger  traced  the  roots  of  a  wheat  plant  over  four  feet 
into  the  earth.  There  appeared  to  have  been  in  former 
years,  in  that  place,  a  large  hole  or  excavation,  which 
had  been  filled  up  with  surface  soil,  and  had  never  be- 
come very  compact ;  and  the  wheat  struck  its  roots 
downward  almost  as  far  as  the  stems  grew  upward. 

The  theory  of  ploughing  deep  for  winter  wheat 
would  be  a  good  one,  if  we  did  not  have  the  frosts  of 
winter  to  contend  with.  The  roots  of  the  wheat  plant 
are  not  elastic,  like  India-rubber.  If  they  were,  winter 


160  THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

wheat  would  not  be  very  much  injured  by  the  freezing 
and  thawing  of  the  soil. 

"  Every  intelligent  farmer  knows  that  when  the  soil 
freezes  it  is  expanded ;  and  as  the  expansioa  must 
nearly  all  be  upward,  plants  are  sometimes  lifted  from 
one  to  two  inches,  i.e.,  the  surface  of  the  upper  soil  is 
from  one  to  two  inches  further  above  the  subsoil  than 
it  is  when  it  is  not  frozen.  Of  course,  this  expansion 
lifts  the  plants  with  it,  and  if  the  roots  have  struck 
downward  farther  than  three  or  four  inches,  they  must 
be  severed  between  the  frozen  and  unfrozen  soil.  But 
in  case  most  of  the  roots  have  shot  out  in  nearly  a  hori- 
zontal direction,  the  plants  and  roots  will  all  rise  and 
settle  back  bodily,  as  the  soil  freezes  and  thaws,  and  but 
very  few  of  the  roots  will  be  broken  oif. 

"  Now,  when  the  soil  is  "ploughed  deep  for  winter 
wheat,  the  roots  must  necessarily  strike  deep  downward 
in  order  to  obtain  sufficient  nourishment,  unless  the 
entire  soil  is  filled  with  vegetable  matter  and  manorial 
substances  for  nourishing  the  young  plants.  But  when 
the  large  proportion  of  vegetable  matter  and  manure 
are  near  the  surface,  the  roots  all  spread  out  nearly  in  a 
horizontal  direction,  forming  a  kind  of  mat  or  tender 
sod,  which  all  rises  in  a  body  when  the  earth  freezes, 
without  severing  any  of  the  roots,  except  those  few  that 
have  struck  downward  beyond  the  super-soil." 

IMPORTANCE  OF  SUBSOILINGL 

The  hard,  impervious  stratum  beneath  the  fertile 
mould  needs  to  be  thoroughly  pulverized,  so  that  the 
roots  of  all  kinds  of  cultivated  plants  may  strike  deep 
and  feed  on  the  vast  stores  of  mineral  pabulum  that 


THE    WHEAT    CULTTJKIST.  161 

have  been  locked  tip  for  unknown  ages.  Almost  all  of 
our  cultivable  fields  could  be  rendered  vastly  more  pro- 
ductive by  a  thorough  subsoiling.  The  deeper  the  soil 
the  more  productive  it  is  likely  to  be,  whatever  may  be 
the  crop,  except  where  the  subsoil  is  already  so  porous 
and  light  that  the  roots  of  plants  find  little  or  no  diffi- 
culty in  striking  as  far  downward  as  the  tops  extend 
upward.  Almost  all  our  wheat  fields,  when  the  soil 
rests  on  an  impervious  and  calcareous  substratum,  should 
be  subsoiled  until  a  mellow  seed-bed  is  prepared,  six- 
teen or  eighteen  inches  in  depth.  Subsoiling  should 
always  be  performed  with  a  suitable  plough,  and  not 
with  an  implement  that  was  made  expressly  for  plough- 
ing the  surface  soil.  Some  kinds  of  soil  will  be  well- 
nigh  ruined  if  turned  upside  down.  Others  will  not 
be  injured  by  deep  trench  ploughing.  Every  farmer  or 
gardener  should  understand  the  character  of  his  soils 
before  he  ploughs  them. 

A  correspondent  of  the  "  Germantown  Telegraph " 
makes  some  observations  on  subsoiling  worthy  of  con- 
sideration :  "  We  can  readily  see  that  the  effect  of  sub- 
soil ploughing  and  trenching  will  vary  with  the  char- 
acter of  the  subsoil ;  if  the  latter  is  hard  and  compact 
it  will  probably  arrest  the  downward  passage  of  the 
water  containing  the  valuable  portions  of  the  surface 
soil,  which  upon  being  again  brought  to  the  surface  will 
of  course  enrich  the  surface  soil ;  but  if,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  subsoil  is  light  and  loose  and  of  a  texture  not 
calculated  to  retain  the  saline  constituents  brought  from 
above,  they  will  pass  through  it,  and  when  it  is  turned 
up  it  may  for  a  time  decrease  the  crops — for  the  only 
benefit  gained  seems  to  be  that  of  deepening  the  surface 
soil,  which  even  of  itself  is  an  important  one.  This 


162  THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

may  in  a  great  measure  account  for  the  varied  success 
which  always  attends  subsoil  ploughing,  and  a  more 
careful  attention  to  the  difference  may  be  the  means  of 
preventing  much  disappointment."  *. 


FIG.  32.-  Gilbert's  Subsoil  Plough. 

The  accompanying  illustration  represents  an  improve- 
ment in  ploughs,  which  is  employed,  with  satisfactory 
results,  in  preparing  the  land  for  wheat,  where  the  soil 
is  of  such  a  character  as  to  require  the  subsoil  to  be 
kept  beneath  the  thin  layer  of  fertile  mould  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground.  This  plough  has  been  introduced 
by  the  inventor,"  P.  M.  Gilbert,  Kewanee,  Illinois,  in 
some  of  the  wheat-growing  sections  of  the  United  States ; 
and  farmers  on  our  lake  slopes,  when  the  surface  soil  is 
thin,  will  find  that  it  will  be  greatly  to  their  advan- 
tage to  use  such  a  plough,  rather  than  to  turn  all  their 
mould  below  the  subsoil. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  plough  has  a  subsoil 
attachment,  which  can  be  adjusted  to  run  any  desired 
depth  in  the  bottom  of  the  furrow  made  by  the  main 
plough. 

In  my  second  volume  of  the  Young  Farmer's  Man- 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  163 

ual  is  an  illustration  of  the  usual  style  of  subsoil 
ploughs,  accompanied  with  suitable  remarks  about  sub- 
soiling  different  kinds  of  land.  Consequently,  my  notes 
in  this  place  are  brief,  on  the  subject  of  ploughing. 

REMEDY  FOB  THE  LODGING  OF  GRAIN. 

It  has  been  assumed  that  the  stiffness  of  the  straw 
of  cereal  grain  and  the  roughness  and  serrated  edges 
of  the  leaves  of  all  cereal  plants,  are  due  to  the  presence 
of  the  silica  in  the  formation  of  the  various  parts  of 
the  plants  just  alluded  to ;  and  it  has  been  shown  by 
chemical  analysis  that  the  straw  and  leaves  of  plants 
that  are  rich  in  silica  are  exceedingly  stiff  and  hard. 
Wheat  straw  generally,  being  much  harder  and  harsher 
to  handle  with  the  bare  hands  than  oats  or  barley  straw, 
it  has  been  assumed  that  the  straw  of  this  kind  of  grain 
contains  a  larger  proportion  of  silica  than  the  straw  of 
oats  or  barley,  which  is  always  much  softer  when  han- 
dled by  those  who  are  binding  the  grain  in  bundles. 
Pierri,  a  distinguished  French  chemist,  has  reported 
some  interesting  experiments  touching^  the  subject  of 
applying  preparations  of  silica  in  a  soluble  state  to  the 
soil  where  the  plants  are  to  be  grown,  for  the  purpose 
of  furnishing  material  that  would  render  the  straw  so 
rigid  and  stiff  that  it  would  maintain  an  erect  position, 
and  thus  greatly  enhance  the  yield  of  grain  per  acre. 
This  chemist  ascertained  that  the  leaves  of  wheat  con- 
tain seven  or  eight  times  as  much  silica  as  the  joints  of 
the  same  stalks  to  which  both  belonged,  and  the  por- 
tions of  the  straw  between  the  joints  yielded  nearly 
twice  the  amount  of  silica  that  was  found  in  the  joints. 
Arguing  from  these  data,  some  writers  have  concluded 


164  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

that  by  applying  silicated  fertilizers,  the  leaves  will  be 
developed  more  in  proportion  than  the  stalks ;  and  as 
large  leaves  will  shade  the  lower  parts  of  the  stalks, 
instead  of  strengthening  or  stiffening  the  straw,  a  dress- 
ing of  silica  will  exert  an  enervating  influence ;  and  the 
growing  plants  will  maintain  an  erect  position  longer 
and  better  when  no  such  silicated  manure  is  applied. 
It  has  also  been  assumed  that  those  grain  stalks  which 
bear  the  largest  leaves  are  more  liable  to  lodge  than 
stalks  having  short  and  small  leaves.  This  observation 
is  a  correct  one ;  but  the  extraordinary  size  of  the  leaves 
of  wheat  is  not  attributable  to  an  excess  of  silica  in  the 
soil,  as  silica,  even  when  present  in  large  quantities  in 
the  soil,  does  not  produce  unusually  large  leaves  with- 
out rendering  them  correspondingly  rough  and  stiff.  It 
will  be  found,  when  grain  lodges  badly,  that  the  leaves 
are  large  and  much  softer  than  the  leaves  of  standing 
grain.  Every  practical  farmer  is  familiar  with  this  fact ; 
and  it  shows  conclusively  that  there  is  a  deficiency 
of  silica  in  the  soil  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
other  manurial  material.  If,  for  example,  wheat  be 
sowed  on  a  light  mucky  soil  where  there  is  little  or 
no  sand  or  clay,  the  growing  grain  will  be  liable  to 
fall  down  before  the  kernels  are  matured.  There 
will  be  also  an  abundance  of  material  to  form  large 
leaves  and  stalks;  but  as  there  is  a  deficiency  of  sil- 
ica to  impart  stiffness  to  the  straw,  a  driving  storm 
of  rain  prostrates  .the  growing  plants  so  that  they  can 
never  gain  an  erect  position.  The  question  then  re- 
curs :  What  may  be  done  by  way  of  cultivation  or  ap- 
plying fertilizing  material  to  stiffen  the  growing  straw 
so  as  to  keep  it  erect  until  the  grain  is  fit  to  harvest  ? 
Throwing  all  chemical  knowledge  aside,  and  relying  on 


THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURIST.  165 

practical  observations  in  the  field,  we  learn  that  certain 
causes  produce  certain  effects,  whether  those  effects  are 
attributable  to  silica  or  to  the  presence  of  some  other 
substance  that  enters  into  the  formation  of  the  straw 
of  cereal  grain.  The  facts  stand  out  with  remarkable 
prominence ;  and  whether  chemists  are  able  to  explain 
the  phenomena  on  principles  strictly  philosophical  or 
not,  practical  farmers  may  avail  themselves  of  the  ob- 
servations and  apply  the  knowledge  to  the  augmenta- 
tion of  the  crop  of  grain  by  cultivating  and  dressing 
the  soil  so  as  to  produce  stiff  straw  that  will  maintain 
an  erect  position  till  the  grain  is  fully  ripe.  "When 
cereal  grain  is  grown  on  a  sandy  soil  where  wood-ashes 
have  been  scattered  in  liberal  profusion,  the  straw  is 
always  exceedingly  stiff.  Almost  every  practical  farm- 
er has  observed  how  rank  and  stiff  the  straw  of  wheat 
and  oats  will  always  grow  where  a  brush  heap  or  log 
heap  has  been  burned  to  ashes.  On  many  wheat  fields 
in  all  parts  of  the  country,  the  grain  growing  where  a 
coal-pit  was  formed,  perhaps  forty  years  ago,  will  stand 
erect,  the  straw  being  very  stiff',  while  the  straw  on  every 
side  of  the  old  coal-bed  is  too  limber  to  maintain  an 
erect  position.  When  wood-ashes  have  been  spread 
upon  the  soil  in  large  quantities  grain  seldom  lodges, 
especially  if  there  is  only  a  small  proportion  of  sand, 
or  gravel,  or  argillaceous  or  calcareous  matter  in  the 
soil.  Where  a  ditch  is  cut  through  a  mucky  soil  rest- 
ing on  a  subsoil  of  clay  or  sandy,  loam,  and  only  a 
small  quantity  of  this  material  is  mingled  with  the  sur- 
face soil,  the  growing  grain  will  maintain  an  erect  posi- 
tion much  longer  than  the  grain  on  either  side  where 
there  is  no  clay  or  sand  mingled  with  the  muck.  With 
these  facts  before  our  minds,  a  farmer  who  has  only  a 


166  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

smattering  of  agricultural  chemistry,  understands  what 
he  may  do  with  the  assurance  of  success,  by  way  of  pre- 
venting his  cereal  grain  from  lodging.  If  the  soil  be 
light  and  filled  with  humus,  attach  a  double '-or  triple 
team  to  a  strong  plough,  and  turn  up  a  new  soil,  which 
will  furnish  to  the  growing  plants  the  desired  material 
for  making  stiff  straw.  If  the  grain  lodges  on  sandy 
land,  let  the  ground  be  dressed  with  a  liberal  supply  of 
marl  or  clay.  Does  the  grain  fall  down  where  there  is 
a  preponderance  of  clay,  apply  a  dressing  of  muck,  sand, 
or  peat.  Whatever  the  soil  may  be,  or  whatever  dress- 
ing may  be  applied,  let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  wood- 
ashes,  either  leached  or  unleached,  will  make  stiffer  and 
brighter  straw,  and  larger  and  heavier  kernels  of  grain, 
than  would  have  grown  on  the  same  ground  had  no 
wood-ashes  been  applied.  These  are  incontrovertible 
facts  which  are  not  required  to  be  established  by  agri- 
cultural chemistry.  Those  farmers,  therefore,  who  sow 
their  wood-ashes  on  their  fields,  where  the  growing 
grain  is  liable  to  fall  down  before  it  is  ripe,  will  usually 
•realize  a  larger  profit  per  bushel  than  they  are  accus- 
tomed to  receive  when  they  sell  their  ashes  for  cash. 
Ashes  may  be  sowed  at  almost  any  period  after  the 
growing  season  has  commenced ;  but  the  effect  will  be 
more  satisfactory  if  they  be  sowed  soon  after  the  seed 
grain  is  put  in. 

HOW   TO    OBTAIN    STRONGER    STEMS. 

Prof.  J.  B.  Lawes,  of  Rothhamsted,  Eng.,  says  that  he 
has  tried  the  experiment  of  sowing  seed  early — the  last 
of  August — and  feeding  with  sheep  during  winter  and 
spring,  checking  thereby  thie  leaf  and  stem,  and  extend- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  167 

ing  the  roots,  hoping  thus  to  obtain  a  plant  which  would 
resist  wind  and  rain,  and  have  stiffer  straw.  The  effort 
met  with  little  success.  "At  one  time,"  he  says  of 
other  experiments,  "  I  was  in  hopes  that  we  might  by 
some  chemical  compounds  increase  the  strength  of  the 
straw ;  but  I  have  been  entirely  unsuccessful,  and  do  not 
anticipate  there  is  much  to  be  done  by  other  experi- 
menters." In  regard  to  thin  seeding  for  this  purpose, 
he  says  that  by  keeping  the  plants  further  apart,  so  as 
to  admit  more  light,  a  stronger  stem  may  be  obtained, 
but  at  the  expense  of  increased  labor  in  weeding,  and, 
generally,  a  decrease  in  the  quality  of  the  grain. 

WHAT  THE  SOIL  REQUIRES. 

It  is  safe  to  assume,  at  the  outset,  that  the  atmosphere 
is  all  right.  Our  finite  minds  cannot  conceive  how  any 
improvement  may  be  made  in  the  chemical  constituents 
of  the  atmosphere,  for  the  purposes  of  vegetation.  With 
all  our  knowledge  of  chemistry,  we  are  not  able  to  effect 
any  change  in  the  atmosphere,  that  will  be  of  any  prac- 
tical advantage,  or  injury,  to  growing  crops.  But  we 
can  modify  the  soil.  By  adding  certain  substances  to  it, 
the  most  barren  earth  and  unproductive  soil  can  be 
rendered  exceedingly  fertile  and  capable  of  producing 
beautiful  crops.  The  inexhaustible  quantity  of  plant 
food  floating  in  the  atmosphere  is  ever  in  an  available 
condition  for  promoting  the  growth  and  development 
of  plants.  In  respect  to  availability  of  plant  food,  there 
is  a  marked  difference  between  the  plant  food  in  the  air 
and  the  vegetable  nutrition  that  is  locked  up  in  the  soil. 
The  plant  food  in  the  atmosphere  is  sure  to  nourish  the 
growing  plants,  whenever  the  tender  leaves  open  their 


168  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

ten  thousand  mouths  to  drink  in  the  delicious  morsels 
which  are  to  aid  in  building  up  the  stems  and  unfold- 
ing the  various  parts  of  the  plant.  The  expanding 
leaves  are  always  bountifully  supplied  with  available 
nourishment.  But  it  is  not  so  with  those  parts  of  the 
plant  that  derive  their  nourishment  from  the  soil.  Grow- 
ing plants  may  send  their  numerous  rootlets  into  the 
earth  for  food,  when  the  untold  number  of  hungry  mouths 
may  be  completely  enveloped  in  atoms  of  just  such  sub- 
stance as  is  required  to  promote  the  luxuriant  growth 
of  plants  ;  and  still  those  plants  may  famish,  droop,  and 
die,  simply  because  .the  vegetable  nutrition  was  not  in 
an  available  condition  to  promote  the  growth  of  the 
plants.  Human  beings  are  sometimes  cast  away  on  the 
briny  ocean,  where  they  famish  and  die  for  want  of  a 
refreshing  draught  of  water,  when  nothing  but  a  vast 
sea  is  spread  out  before  them. 

Analytical  chemists  are  capable  of  analyzing  soil  with 
such  remarkable  accuracy  that  they  can  detect  a  thou- 
sandth part  of  one  grain  of  nitrogen,  or  phosphorus ; 
and  yet  their  analyses,  when  made  with  the  utmost  pre- 
cision, may  not  always  furnish  any  reliable  data  to  aid 
the  practical  farmer  in  the  cultivation  of  his  fields. 

CARBONACEOUS  MATERIAL. 

The  vast  quantities  of  suet  stored  about  the  kidneys 
of  beef  cattle,  mutton  sheep,  and  well-fattened  swine, 
are  composed  largely  of  carbonaceous  matter.  The 
most  excellent  specimens  of  sugar  are  composed  almost 
entirely  of  carbon.  Charcoal  is  only  a  mass  of  almost 
pure  carbon  ;  and  the  costly,  beautiful  diamond,  is  com- 
posed chiefly  of  carbon.  Let  either  of  these  substances 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  169 

pass  through  a  chemist's  hands,  and  he  pronounces  them 
carbon.  But  what  will  they  accomplish  towards  build- 
ing up  the  animal  frame  ? 

We  feed  our  children  with  sugar,  and  the  carbonaceous 
material  in  it  nourishes  them.  The  carbon  in  suet  sup- 
plies large  quantities  of  nourishment  to  carnivorous 
animals.  But  charcoal  and  the  diamond,  whether 
baked,  or  boiled,  or  fried,  or  broiled,  or  consumed  with- 
out any  preparation,  will  no  more  nourish  the  animal 
frame  than  salt  water  will  quench  thirst. 

These  illustrations  will  suffice  to  show  what  the 
soil  requires  in  order  to  render  it  fertile  and  productive. 
In  order  to  be  productive,  the  soil  must  be  well  supplied 
with  available  plant  food.  This  is  one  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  vegetable  physiology.  If  a  soil  be 
wanting  in  plant  food,  the  first  important  thing  to  be 
done  on  the  part  of  the  husbandman,  is  to  supply  the 
deficiency.  But  if  a  soil  contain  plant  food  in  abundance, 
and  if  the  food  be  not  available,  the  duty  of  the  hus- 
bandman will  be  to  adopt  such  a  system  of  manage- 
ment as  will  unlock  the  sealed-up  treasures,  and  thus 
enable  the  growing  plants  to  appropriate  the  material 
beneath  the  surface  to  the  production  of  necessary 
human  food. 

The  question  then  returns  with  renewed  emphasis — 
what  does  the  soil  require  to  render  it  fertile  arid 
productive  f 

Aside  from  the  mechanical  condition  of  the  soil — 
which  comprehends  thorough  pulverization — there  must 
be  a  bountiful  supply  of  nitrogenous  matter  and  phos- 
phoric acid  in  an  available  condition,  where  the  numer- 
ous rootlets  of  growing  plants  can  take  up  such  sub- 
stances. 


1TO 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


In  numerous  instances,  the  chief  element  wanting  to 
make  a  soil  productive,  is  lime.  But  it  is  folly,  and  many 
times  injurious  to  the  soil,  to  apply  a  dressing  of  lime 
when  lime  is  not  the  thing  required.  The  only  *•  way  in 
which  a  farmer  can  determine  whether  lime  is  required 
in  a  soil,  is  by  numerous  experiments  on  his  own 
land. 

Ashes  are  needed  in  almost  every  soil,  on  account  of 
the  amount  of  potash  required  to  form  a  stiff,  healthy 
straw.  See  my  remarks  about  ashes  in  the  latter  part  of 
this  book,  in  the  chapter  on  insects  and  diseases  of  wheat. 

WHAT  A  BAKREN  SOIL  LACKS. 

Daniel  Lee,  one  of  the  most  scientific  writers  of 
America  on  Agricultural  Chemistry,  writes : 

"  Every  observing  farmer  knows  that  it  is  far  easier  to 
produce  a  large  growth  of  straw  than  a  great  yield  of 
grain.  This  comes  from  a  lack  of  knowledge  of  the 
things  which  form  the  seeds  of  cereal  plants.  Phos- 
phorus and  ammonia,  or  available  nitrogen  and  phos- 
phoric acid — the  things  wanting  in  oat  straw  to  make 
the  seeds  of  this  plant — are  not  very  cheap  nor  abundant. 
Guano  contains  more  of  them  than  any  other  fertilizer 
now  in  the  market.  Bones  also  abound  in  these  ele- 
ments. Limestone  that  contains  the  remains  of  shells 
and  animals,  also  possesses  more  or  less  phosphoric  acid. 
But  where  a  field  is  so  badly  worn  that  it  will  not  bear 
over  twenty  bushels  of  oats,  it  had  better  be  seeded  with 
clover,  and  limed,  salted,  plastered,  and  ashed,  as  well 
as  manured,  to  a  moderate  extent.  This,  with  subsoil 
ploughing,  will  soon  bring  it  up,  while  the  crop  of  clover 
will  pay  all  the  expenses. 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  171 

"Deep  ploughing  and  clover,  with  its  long  tap-roots  and 
numerous  leaves,  are  admirably  adapted  to  renovate  a 
poor  soil. 

"  In  most  of  the  wheat-growing  districts,  the  rotation 
is  limited  to  wheat  and  clover  as  a  general  rule — two  sea- 
sons in  clover  and  one  in  wheat.  Sheep  and  horses  eat 
most  of  the  clover.  In  soils  where  lime  and  gypsum  do 
not  abound,  they  are  applied,  in  greater  or  less  quantities, 
to  suit  the  particular  case  or  views  of  the  owner  of  the 
land.  Mr.  Elisha  Harmon,  of  Wheatland,  a  large  and 
excellent  farmer,  has  one  iield  that  has  borne  a  good 
crop  of  wheat  every  other  year  for  fifteen  years,  without 
any  diminution  of  the  biennial  yield.  The  alternating 
crop  is  clover.  Wheatland,  according  to  the  late  census, 
yields  considerably  more  wheat  per  acre  than  any  other 
town  in  the  State.  It  is  nearly  covered  with  plaster 
beds,  and  its  lime  rock  and  soil  abound  in  organic  re- 
mains. These  skeletons  contain  more  or  less  of  the 
elements  necessary  to  form  new  plants  and  animals. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  if  we  should  give  to  a 
field  all  the  constituents  of  the  crop  we  wished  to  grow, 
in  a  soluble  form,  and  in  due  proportion,  we  might  ob- 
tain a  large  yield  every  year  of  any  plant.  Where  the 
elements  of  wheat  are  abundant,  it  is  believed  that  they 
might  be  organized  every  year  on  one  field,  as  well  as 
every  second  or  third  year. 

"  The  wheat  plant  contains  lime,  soda,  and  chlorine. 
Soda  and  chlorine  form  common  salt,  which,  like  the 
salts  of  lime  and  potash,  are  quite  soluble,  and  liable  to 
be  washed  out  of  cultivated  soils.  The  frequent  appli- 
cation, in  small  doses,  of  these  constituents  of  wheat  to 
wheat  fields,  must  be  advantageous,  irrespective  of  rust. 
It  is  believed  that  the  production  of  a  bright,  hard,  and 


172  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


stem,  is  a  pretty  sure  preventive  of  this  evil, 
whether  it  be.  a  disease  of  the  plant,  or  a  parasite,  or 
both.  We  infer  that  soluble  silica,  or  such  sand  as  forms 
glass,  has  much  to  do  in  making  a  bright,  glassy  straw, 
for  the  reason  that  the  ashes  of  wheat  straw  yield,  on 
analysis,  from  67  to  81  per  cent,  of  silica.  As  the  sand 
in  the  soil  that  furnishes  this  silica  is  quite  insoluble, 
unless  combined  chemically  with  potash,  or  soda,  or 
both,  we  see  the  great  value  of  salt  to  yield  soda,  and 
of  wood-ashes  to  yield  potash,  not  only  for  wheat,  but 
for  all  grasses.  By  mixing  salt  with  recently-slaked 
lime,  in  the  proportion  of  two  parts  of  the  latter  to  one 
of  the  former  (which  should  be  moistened,  and  again 
mixed  with  muck  or  mold  equal  in  bulk  to  the  lime), 
the  chlorine  in  the  salt  will  leave  the  sodium  or  soda 
free,  and  unite  with  the  lime,  forming  a  soluble  salt 
called  chloride  of  calcium.  Being  soluble,  this  salt  will 
supply  wheat  and  other  plants  with  whatever  lime  and 
chlorine  they  may  need.  In  one  hundred  pounds  of 
common  salt  there  are  forty  pounds  of  soda,  which,  being 
set  free  by  lime  in  a  moist  soil,  or  compost,  will  com- 
bine with  silica  (silicic  acid),  and  form  a  soluble  salt 
called  silicate  of  soda.  The  soluble  silicates  of  soda  and 
potash  are  partly  decomposed  in  the  stems  of  grasses, 
leaving  insoluble  silicates.  Leached  ashes  obtained 
from  plants  are  made  up  in  a  good  degree  of  insoluble 
silicates  of  potash,  soda,  lime,  and  iron,  with  a  little  car- 
bonic, sulphuric,  and  phosphoric  acids." 

DIFFERENT  KINDS  OF  MANURE  AND  WHEAT. 

Boussingault,    a   distinguished   agricultural   chemist, 
instituted  several  interesting  experiments   to  ascertain 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


173 


what  effect  fertilizers  of  different  kinds  would  have  on 
the  chemical  composition  of  the  grain,  particularly  in 
the  production  of  gluten ;  and  he  ascertained  that  cer- 
tain kinds  of  fertilizing  matter  produced  grain  contain- 
ing a  large  percentage  more  of  gluten  than  other 
specimens  of  the  same  kinds  of  grain,  raised  on  soil 
exactly  alike,  and  which  was  in  close  proximity,  but 
fertilized  with  a  different  kind  of  manure.  The  large 
proportion  of  gluten  and  starch  in  wheat,  renders  wheat 
flour  eminently  superior  to  the  meal  of  other  cereal  grain 
for  bread,  cake,  biscuit,  and  other  articles  of  human  food. 
Indian  corn  affords  a  large  percentage  of  superior  starch ; 
but.  is  deficient  in  gluten,  for  which  reason  Indian  meal 
will  not  make  so  light  bread  and  biscuit  as  wheat  flour. 
The  accompanying  table  will  show  the  result  of  the  ex- 
periment : 


BRAN,  AND 
OTHER  MATTER. 

STARCH. 

GLUTEN. 

Human  urine  

25.6 

39.3 

25.6 

Bullocks'  blood  
Night  soil  
Sheep's  dung  

25.5 
25.5 
24.3 

41.3 
41.4 

42.8 

34.2 
31.1 

32.9 

Groat's  dung 

247 

424 

32.9 

Horse  dun01        .  . 

24.7 

61.6 

13.7 

Pigeon's  dung  

24.6 

63.2 

12.2 

Cows'  dun°" 

257 

623 

12.0 

No  manure  

24.1 

66.7 

9.2 

The  variation  appears  to  be  almost  solely  between  the 
starch  and  gluten,  as  other  portions  differ  but  little. 
The  percentage  of  gluten  in  white  wheat  raised  in  the 
United  States,  is  stated  to  be  23  or  24  parts  in  every  100  ; 
and  the  amount  of  starch,  sugar,  gum,  and  water,  about 
76  or  77.  Wheat  is  valuable  in  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  gluten  it  will  yield  in  making  bread  and  cake. 


174:  THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

Certain  kinds  of  wheat  will  yield  much  more  than 
others;  and  the  same  grain,  when  grown  for  several 
successive  seasons  in  a  given  climate,  will  yield  more  or 
less  gluten,  according  as  it  is  raised  on  a  wheat  soil — a 
soil  containing  a  large  proportion  of  clay — and  manured 
with  that  kind  of  fertilizing  material  which  tends  to  in- 
crease the  quantity  of  gluten. 

The  table  shows  that  ground  fertilized  with  human 
urine  produced  wheat  containing  more  gluten  than  the 
grain  grown  by  the  application  of  any  other  fertilizing 
matter.  This  suggests  the  great  importance  of  saving 
all  such  liquid,  and  applying  it  to  the  soil,  to  increase 
the  yield  of  this  excellent  grain,  instead  of  allowing  it  to 
remain  where  it  will  be  an  offensive  nuisance  to  the  in- 
mates of  the  dwelling-house.  By  having  a  few  loads  of 
muck,  peat,  finely-pulverized  alluvial  soil,  sawdust,  or 
some  other  good  absorbent,  where  such  fecal  matter  may 
be  received,  a  large  quantity  of  superior  manure  may  be 
made  during  the  year,  for  top-dressing  wheat.  Almost 
every  kind  of  soil  where  wheat  grows  needs  a  small 
quantity  of  excellent  manure. 

HOME-MADE  POUDRETTE  FOR  WHEAT. 

Poudrette,  when  unadulterated  and  properly  applied, 
is  one  of  the  most  valuable  manures  for  wheat  that  can  be 
employed,  because  there  is  such  an  abundance  of  grain- 
producing  material  in  the  raw  fertilizing  matter  of 
which  poudrette  is  made.  Very  few  families  in  Amer- 
ica make  any  effort  to  utilize  the  large  quantities  of 
human  excrement  which  are  allowed  to  accumulate 
until  the  putrid  mass  becomes  an  offensive  nuisance. 
"With  proper  management,  every  family  might  accumu- 


THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURIST.  175 

late  a  quantity  of  poudrette  every  year  sufficient  to 
produce  all  the  wheat  required  for  their  daily  bread 
through  the  entire  year.  It  is  true  that  Jhe  fecal  mat 
ter  of  a  single  person  amounts  to  only  a  small  quantity 
per  day.  We  will  suppose  the  average  accumulation 
will  not  exceed  one  pound.  At  this  estimate,  the  quan- 
tity collected  in  one  year  would  amount  to  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  pounds  for  each  person,  of  superior 
fertilizing  material,  which  will  produce  as  much  wheat 
as  the  same  number  of  pounds  of  Peruvian  guano,  pro- 
vided the  former  be  properly  composted.  It  seems 
quite  unnecessary  to  enlarge,  in  this  place,  on  the  man- 
urial  value  of  human  excrement  and  human  urine,  as 
every  person  of  ordinary  intelligence  must  know  that 
such  raw  material  abounds  largely  in  just  such  substance 
as  the  growing  wheat-plants  must  have  in  abundance, 
in  order  to  develop  a  bountiful  yield  of  grain. 

The  question  then  recurs,  how  may  such  offensive 
material  be  utilized  in  an  advantageous  manner  so  as  to 
promote  the  growth  of  the  wheat  crop  ?  I  answer,  by 
having  the  privy  properly  constructed,  so  as  to  save 
both  the  solid  and  the  liquid  portions,  and  render  the 
mass  inodorous,  so  that  the  compost  may  be  easily  ap- 
plied to  the  soil.  If  the  privy  is  properly  constructed, 
there  will  be  little  difficulty  in  handling  the  fecal  mate- 
rial with  a  shovel. 

The  accompanying  cut,  Fig.  33,  will  convey  a  fair 
idea  of  a  convenient  manner  of  making  a  privy  for  the 
purpose  of  saving  the  manure.  The  illustration  hardly 
needs  an  explanation.  It  will  be  perceived  that  the 
building  is  supported  on  brick  pillars.  Stone,  or  durable 
wood  posts,  would  subserve  a  satisfactory  purpose.  A 
water-tight  box,  with  sides  about  a  foot  high,  should  be 


176  THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURIST. 

placed  beneath  the  building,  and  dry  muck,  or  dry  pul- 
verized clay  should  be  mingled  with  the  daily  accumu- 
lations. By  allowing  the  box  or  sink  to  extend  beyond 
the  side  of  the  privy,  it  will  not  be  found  difficult  to 


-aer 
Fio.  33. — Poudrette  manufactory. 


shovel  over  the  compost  in  any  part  of  the  box.  A 
water-tight  lid  should  be  placed  over  the  box  to  exclude 
rain  and  snow.  It  is  not  necessary  to  place  the  box  as 
far  under  the  building  as  it  is  represented  in  the  figure. 
Always  keep  an  abundance  of  muck,  dry  clay,  or 
mellow  earth  on  hand,  so  as  to  absorb  all  the  manurial 
properties  that  would  readily  escape  into  the  air.  Keep 
out  ashes  and  lime,  as  these  substances  will  injure  the 
manure.  A  thin  dressing  of  such  compost  will  produce 
a  heavy  growth  of  wheat.  Poudrette  should  always 
be  applied  as  a  thin  dressing  on  the  surface,  and  covered 
with  soil.  (Kead  my  remarks  on  this  kind  of  manure 
in  the  second  volume  of  the  Young  Farmer's  Manual.) 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  177 


WHY  NITROGENOUS  MANURES  ARE  REQUIRED  FOR 

WHEAT. 

Although  an  application  of  superphosphate  of  lime 
will  grow  a  large  crop  of  turnips  with  the  aid  of  a  very 
little  organic  manure,  and  red  clover  will  grow  luxu- 
riantly on  a  medium-conditioned  soil,  with  the  aid  of 
the  same  application,  or  a  little  plaster,  yet  no  grain 
crop  will  reach  the  maximum  on  such  a  soil,  no  matter 
how  rich  you  make  it  in  all  the  mineral  and  inorganic 
elements,  without  a  liberal  application  of  nitrogenous, 
well-saved  stall  manure,  or  its  equivalent  in  Peruvian 
guano  or  ammonia  salts.  J.  B.  Lawes,  in  his  long  series 
of  experiments,  ascertained  conclusively  that  where 
every  mineral  element  was  in  the  soil  necessary  for  a 
maximum  crop  of  wheat,  the  yield  of  wheat  on  an  acre 
was  doubled  by  the  aid  of  two  hundred  pounds  of 
sulphate  of  ammonia  alone ;  and  Indian  corn  being 
a  great  feeder,  it  is  in  much  greater  need  of  more, 
nitrogen  (ammonia)  than  the  more  dainty  wheat  plant : 
in  fact  it  may  be  truly  said,  the  more  ammonia  the 
more  corn,  provided  the  soil  is  well  drained  and  tilled. 
As  neither  the  stalks  nor  grain  of  cereal  plants  con- 
tain nitrogen  in  anything  like  the  proportion  in  which 
it  is  found  in  peas,  beans,  clover,  and  other  legumi- 
nous plants,  Mr.  Lawes  has  come  to  the  very  reasona- 
ble conclusion  that  wheat,  barley,  rye,  timothy,  etc., 
destroy  nitrogen  during  the  process  of  their  growth,  or 
rather  that  nitrogenous  compounds  are  used  up  and 
destroyed  in  making  other  matters  in  the  soil  into  solu- 
ble plant  food.  Liebig  says  that  quicklime  applied  to 
the  soil,  particularly  to  clay,  dissolves  the  silicates  into 
soluble  plant  food.  If  this  is  so,  auplus  forte  raison, 

8* 


178  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

we  should  expect  that  the  salts  of  ammonia  would  per 
form  the  same  office  to  all  the  insoluble  matters  in  the 
soil  necessary  for  the  maximum  growth  of  the  plants  it 
supports. 

The  result  of  these  experiments  should  teach  grain- 
growing  farmers  the  great  importance  of  also  growing 
red  clover  and  other  leguminous  plants,  which  collect 
most  of  their  nitrogen  from  the  dew,  rain,  and  air,  and 
yet  retain  it  in  their  tissues  to  twice  the  amount  that  it 
is  found  in  the  cereal  grasses.  Thus,  clover,  peas,  beans, 
etc.,  whether  ploughed  under  in  the  green  state  or  fed 
to  animals  and  the  manure  applied  to  the  soil,  are  nearly 
thrice  the  value  of  manure  made  from  the  cereal  grasses. 

On  the  light,  sandy  soils  of  Georgia,  the  cow  pea  is 
grown  as  a  manuring  plant,  and  ploughed  in  green ;  as 
peas  and  beans  contain  three  times  as  much  nitrogen 
as  wheat  or  other  cereals,  the  Georgia  planter  proves 
the  truth  of  chemical  analysis  in  his  own  success.  The 
clover  plant  being  of  the  same  order  as  the  cow  pea 
(leguminous),  consuming  little,  but  affording  a  great  deal 
of  nitrogen,  so  necessary  to  all  cereal  crops,  every  farmer 
who  grows  grain,  or  even  timothy  and  other  narrow- 
leaved  grasses,  should  also  grow  clover  without  stint. 
But  while  the  cereals  require  a  soil  richer  in  nitrogen 
than  in  the  mineral  elements  of  plant  food,  yet  a  liberal 
supply  of  superphosphate  of  lime  will  also  add  to  the 
incipient  growth  of  cereals,  and  to  the  stalks  but  not  to 
the  grain  of  Indian  corn,  and  to  turnips  and  all  legu- 
minous plants  the  minerals  are  especially  beneficial. 
Mr.  Lawes  wrote  to  a  farmer  thus :  "  When  the  alkalies 
and  phosphates  alone  are  used,  the  pasture  is  a  mass  of 
clover  and  trefoil ;  but  when  ammonia  is  used,  is  all 
grass."  (See  "  Maine  Farmer  "  on  this  subject.) 


THE  WHEAT  CULTURIST.  179 

MANURING  WHEAT,  BY  JOHN  JOHNSTON. 

John  Johnston,  of  Seneca  County,  New  York,  whose 
authority  on  wheat-growing  has  ever  been  considered 
unquestionable,  wrote  to  Colonel  Johnson  thus  :  "  What 
success  I  have  had  in  raising  wheat  is  mainly  from  ma- 
nuring. Before  I  ever  thought  of  draining,  by  manur- 
ing my  driest  land,  I  raised  excellent  wheat  crops.  Now, 
by  having  all  my  land  dry,  a  great  deal  less  manure  will 
answer.  On  dry  land  manured,  the  wheat,  or  at  least 
the  greater  part  of  it,  gets  forward  in  spring,  so  as  to 
escape  the  midge  ;  at  least  in  common  seasons.  It  does 
so  with  me ;  and  I  am  more  and  more  convinced,  that 
where  a  farmer  has  a  good  crop  of  straw,  it  will  pay 
him  well  to  feed  all  the  sheep  he  can,  even  if  he  feed 
them  each  one  dollar's  worth  of  oil  cake  meal,  and  get 
the  pay  only  in  the  manure.  But  it  is  scarcely  possible 
that  the  sheep  will  not  pay  it.  If  he  shears  them,  they 
will  at  least  give  him  two  pounds  of  wool  more  per 
head ;  and  then,  the  carcass,  for  either  keeping  over,  or 
for  wintering  another  season,  is,  I  firmly  believe,  worth 
a  dollar.  I  have  often  fed  merino  lambs  not  over  seven- 
ty cents'  worth  of  oil  meal  during  winter,  and  good  hay  ; 
and  sold  them  in  spring,  say  April  and  May,  at  five  dol- 
lars each,  when,  if  they  had  been  fed  in  the  common 
way  of  feeding,  they  would  not  have  been  worth  more 
than  two  dollars,  if  that. 

"  Then,  only  think  of  the  difference  in  the  value 
of  the  manure !  I  tell  you,  sir,  if  your  society  (The 
New  York  State  Agricultural  Society)  can  only  in- 
duce the  farmers  of  the  State  of  New  York  to  feed 
their  stock  plentifully  of  grain,  or  oil  cake,  and  make 
their  land  dry  by  under-draining  when  it  is  wet, 


180  THE    AVHEAT    CULTUBIST. 

we  shall  make  better  crops  of  wheat  than  the  aver- 
age yield  was,  at  any  time,  since  I  was  a  resident 
of  the  State.  There  is  no  guess-work  about  this, 
for  writh  me,  it  has  proved  true ;  and  it  cani\ot  fail 
to  be  so  with  others.  It  is  true  that  we  must  ex- 
pect some  failures.  But  if  farmers  will  do  their  duty 
to  the  land,  their  failures  will  be  fewer  and  farther  be- 
tween than  ever  heretofore.  I  have  seldom  seen  a  fail- 
ing crop  of  wheat  when  it  got  a  good  root  in  autumn. 
I  had  a  small  piece  of  land,  say  not  quite  two  acres,  that 
never  was  manured.  In  1856,  the  wheat  on  that  part 
of  the  field  was  quite  light,  and  the  other  part'  of  the 
field  (twenty-six  acres)  excellent;  and  on  the  first  of 
October,  1856,  I  gave  one-half  of  the  piece  a  light  ma- 
nuring of  rotten  manure  from  the  cattle-yards,  say  at 
the  rate  of  about  ten  common  two -horse  wagon  loads  to 
the  acre — the  manure  showed  immediately  on  young 
clover.  I  summer-fallowed  the  field ;  and  sowed  with 
wheat  early  in  September.  The  wheat  was  no  sooner 
up,  than  that  part  manured  showed  plainly,  from  the 
part  that  was  never  manured.  Some  may  say,  why  did 
he  not  manure  the  whole  of  the  piece  when  he  was 
about  it  ?  I  answer,  that  I  left  a  part  of  it  to  convince 
my  tenant  (as  I  don't  work  much  of  my  farm  myself, 
now),  and  others  who  may  see  it,  the  necessity  of  mak- 
ing and  saving  all  the  manure  possible.  (Nothing  will 
make  people  believe  like  seeing.)" 

MANURING  WITH  GUANO. 

R.  T.  Rubbard,  of  Buckingham  County.  Virginia, 
writes,  in  relation  to  the  practice  of  applying  guano  to 
the  soil  for  wheat,  as  follows :  "  Within  the  last  five 
years,  several  farmers  in  this  and  the  adjacent  counties 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  181 

have  sown  guauo  upon  their  wheat  land ;  and,  while  J 
have  heard  of  some  disappointment,  the  testimony  pre- 
ponderates in  favor  of  guano  as  a  valuable  fertilizer.  This 
manure  condenses  great  power  in  a  small  bulk ;  and 
hence  its  portability  gives  it  a  great  recommendation 
with  all  who  properly  appreciate  the  value  of  labor  and 
time.  The  quantity  generally  sown  upon  wheat  land 
is  200  pounds  to  the  acre.  I  believe  that  most  of  those 
who  use  guano  in  Virginia  have  acted  upon  the  plan — • 
strongly  enforced  a  few  years  ago — of  ploughing  in  the 
guano  deep,  then  sowing  the  wheat,  and  covering  it  by 
the  harrow  or  one-horse  ploughs.  The  reason  assigned 
in  favor  of  burying  the  guano  deep,  is  the  tendency  of 
its  ammonia  to  escape  rapidly.  To  guard  against  this 
tendency,  plaster  may  be  mixed  with  guano  in  propor- 
tion of  one-fourth  of  the  former  to  three-fourths  of  the 
latter ;  thus  combined,  the  sulphuric  acid  of  the  plaster 
will  unite  with  the  ammonia  of  the  guano,  and  retain  it 
for  the  gradual  nourishment  and  progressive  develop- 
ment of  the  growing  crop.  So  far  as  my  limited  experi- 
ence has  enabled  me  to  judge,  I  am  opposed  to  plough- 
ing in  guano  very  deep.  Instead  of  ploughing  it  under 
to  the  depth  of  eight  or  ten  inches,  with  ploughs  drawn 
by  two  or  three  horses,  I  prefer  to  plough  it  in  with  one- 
horse  ploughs,  and  to  cover  the  guano  only  three  or  four 
inches.  In  this  way  I  believe  the  guano  becomes  more 
speedily  and  more  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the  soil 
than  at  a  lower  depth,  and  that  the  effect  upon  the 
wheat  crop  is  more  beneficial.  I  am  aware  that  this 
method  has  been  objected  to  upon  the  ground  that,  al- 
though the  effect  of  guano  may  be  very  apparent  and 
very  salutary  when  thus  applied,  it  is  more  evanescent 
than  when  covered  deep.  On  the  contrary,  I  think  that 


182  THE    WHEAT    CULTURI8T. 

the  effect  of  guano  is  not  only  more  decided  and  bene 
fieial  when  it  is  ploughed  in  superficially,  but  that  its 
effects  are  equally,  if  not  more,  permanent.  Ammonia 
is  one  of  the  most  valuable  constituents  of  stable  manure ; 
yet  the  almost  invariable  practice —  a  practice  sanctioned 
equally  by  experience  and  observation — is  to  plough  in 
this  kind  of  manure  superficially.  I  have  heard  of  no 
one  in  Yirginia  whose  success  in  the  use  of  guano  has 
been  more  encouraging  than  that  of  Mr.  Willoughby 
Newton,  of  Westmoreland,  who  has  been  convinced  by 
experience  that  guano  exerts  a  more  powerful  influence 
when  ploughed  in  superficially  than  when  ploughed  in 
deep,  as  recommended  by  others.  This  manure  aug- 
ments the  crop  of  wheat,  and  insures  a  good  stand  of 
clover ;  but  in  our  country  its  effect  is  not  supposed  to 
continue  more  than  twelve  or  eighteen  months  beyond 
the  period  of  application." 

FURTHER  TESTIMONY  ABOUT  GUAJSTO. 

E.  G.  Booth,  Nottaway  County,  Virginia,  writes  thus  : 
"  Guano  and  other  fertilizers  are  so  generally  used  now, 
and  so  much  more  attention  bestowed  on  improvement 
of  land,  that  the  product  has  been  greatly  increased 
within  the  last  few  years.  I  have  not  used  guano  ex- 
tensively, but  sufficiently  so  to  express  the  confident 
conviction  that  it  would  quadruple  the  product  on  poor 
land.  The  proportion  of  increase  is  not  so  great  on  rich 
land.  The  plan  generally  adopted  in  this  section  is  to 
turn  it  under  with  a  two-horse  plough.  Intelligent 
practical  farmers  are  now  preparing  to  harrow  it  in  with 
the  wheat.  I  consider  it  such  a  powerful  stimulant  that 
it  will  act  well  when  applied  in  most  any  way,  except 
top-dressing.  It  is  too  volatile  for  that." 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  183 


BURYING-  MANURE  DEEP  OR  SHALLOW  FOR  WHEAT. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  sub- 
ject of  burying  manure  shallow,  in  preference  to  covering 
it  deep,  there  are  still  some  farmers  who  will  contend 
that  it  is  preferable  to  scatter  the  manure  in  a  deep  fur- 
row, to  simply  covering  it  with  a  thin  stratum  of  earth. 
It  is  far  better  to  cover  manure  only  two  inches  deep,  for 
winter  wheat,  than  to  bury  it  in  a  furrow  six  inches 
in  depth.  I  may  repeat  what  I  have  stated  in  another 
part  of  this  book :  that  manure  for  winter  grain  should 
always  be  kept  near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  so  that 
the  coronal  roots  of  the  wheat  plant  (or  the  winter  rye, 
or  winter  barley  plants)  may  spread  out  horizontally, 
rather  than  strike  downward  nearly  in  a  vertical  direc- 
tion, as  horizontal  roots  will  keep  the  young  plants  from 
being  lifted  out  by  the  freezing  of  the  soil.  (See  the  chapter 
on  Manures,  in  the  second  volume  of  my  Young  Farmer's 
Manual.) 

For  the  purpose  of  testing  the  advantage  of  burying 
manure  shallow,  some  farmers  in  Pennsylvania  tried  an 
experiment  in  applying  manure  to  their  wheat  ground. 
One  farmer  contended  that  manure  should  be  turned 
under  deep  with  the  lirst  ploughing ;  and  the  other  that 
it  should  be  buried  shallow,  with  the  second  ploughing. 
To  settle  the  point  as  near  as  possible,  these  two  agreed 
to  try  one-half  of  each  of  their  fields  each  way,  and  let  the 
the  rest  judge  by  vote  which  was  best.  In  both  cases 
one-half  of  the  manure  was  hauled  out  as  soon  as  the  oats 
were  off,  and  ploughed  under  deep  ;  then  the  remainder 
of  the  field  was  ploughed  to  the  same  depth,  well  harrow- 
ed and  rolled :  the  balance  of  the  manure  was  then 
hauled  out,  spread,  and  a  portion  (about  one-fourth)  of 


184:  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

each  field  ploughed  in  shallow  (six  inches  deep),  and  the 
remainder  of  the  manure  was  allowed  to  remain  on  the 
surface  till  near  seeding  time,  when  it  was  also  turned 
under  shallow.  ^ 

The  two  fields  were  visited  by  a  committee,  and  a  re- 
port of  each  visit  prepared.  The  whole  of  the  reports 
summed  up  is  about  this:  that  throughout  that  portion 
where  the  manure  was  turned  under  by  the  second  plough- 
ing as  soon  as  spread,  the  wheat  was  always  the  best  in 
appearance ;  the  straw  is  better,  and  the  grain  is  heavier 
and  plumper.  The  decision  wras,  that  the  manure  should 
be  turned  under  about  six  inches  deep  with  the  second 
ploughing,  and  as  soon  as  spread,  or  as  soon  after  it  is 
spread  as  practicable. 

REMAKKS. — If  a  farmer  will  reflect  for  a  moment, 
common  sense  will  convince  him,  that  the  fertilizing 
material  should  be  deposited,  as  nearly  as  practicable, 
on  a  horizontal  line  with  the  seed,  so  that  the  young 
roots  may  derive  nourishment  from  it,  soon  after  the 
plants  begin  to  grow.  When  manure  is  spread  on  a  grass 
sod,  or  clover  sod,  whether  wheat  is  to  be  raised  or  any 
other  grain,  the  land  should  be  ploughed  shallow,  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  the  manure  as  near  the  surface  as 
practicable. 

SHALLOW  PLOUGHING  FOE  WHEAT. 

The  Editor  of  the  "  Genesee  Farmer "  recorded  the 
following  remarks,  in  relation  to  the  culture  of  wheat. 
But  the  reader  must  bear  in  mind  that  he  has  refer- 
ence to  wheat  on  light  soils.  Every  intelligent  farmer 
knows  that  it  would  not  improve  the  productiveness  of 
heavy,  clay  soils  to  roll  the  surface,  or  tread  it  with 
sheep.  The  allusion  made  by  the  writer  to  ploughing 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJRIST.  185 

clover  sod  shallow  for  wheat,  corroborates  what  I  have 
advocated  in  this  book — that  a  shallow  stratum  of  mould 
should  be  prepared  on  the  surface  of  the  land  to  induce 
the  roots  to  spread  horizontally  as  much  as  possible,  for 
the  purpose  of  resisting  the  action  of  frost  in  heaving 
out  the  young  plants.  The  writer  says : 

"  A  wheat  soil  must  be  compact.  If  it  is  not  so  natur 
ally,  mechanical  means  should  be  employed  to  compress 
it.  Treading  light  wheat  land  in  the  fall  or  early  in  the 
spring  with  sheep,  is  frequently  beneficial,  and  a  good 
heavy  roller  is  decidedly  advantageous.  CrosskilPs  Clod 
Crusher,  compressing  land,  as  it  does,  similarly  to  the 
treading  of  sheep,  is  found  very  useful  on  sandy  wheat 
fields  in  England.  We  are  earnest  advocates  of  deep 
ploughing  and  thorough  pulverization  of  the  soil,  but 
these  must  not  be  carried  to  excess  in  wheat  culture.  It  is 
easy  to  make  the  light  land  too  fine  and  loose  for  wheat. 
When  wheat  is  sown  on  a  clover  sod  after  one  ploughing, 
it  is  not  advisable  to  plough  it  too  deep  ;  if  the  sod  is  all 
covered  and  a  good  '  seed-bed '  obtained,  that  is  enough. 
Subsoil  and  plough  deep  for  corn  and  root  crops ;  and,  if 
the  ground  be  summer-fallowed,  let  it  be  subsoiled  for 
wheat  also ;  but  if  wheat  is  sown  at  one  furrow  on  a 
clover  sod  turned  under  immediately  before  seeding,  we 
should  seldom  go  more  than  six  inches  deep.  The  best 
large  field  of  wheat  we  ever  saw  in  England,  was  on  a 
calcareous  loam  that  had  been  two  years  in  red  clover, 
grazed  with  sheep,  which,  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
time,  were  allowed  a  pound  of  oil-cake  per  day.  It  was 
ploughed  about  three  inches  deep,  just  before  sowing,  and 
a  bushel  and  a  half  of  seed  drilled  in  per  acre,  one  foot 
apart  in  the  drills.  The  yield  was  fifty-five  bushels  per 


186  THE  WHEAT  CULTURIST. 

WHEAT  AFTER  POTATOES. 

From  a  letter  penned  by  J.  W.  Hutchins,  a  practical 
farmer  of  Templeton,  Mass.,  the  following  extracts  are 
taken  on  this  subject,  which  will  corroborate  the  point 
that  has  been  repeated  and  again  reiterated,  that  in  order 
to  raise  wheat  successfully  the  ground  must  be  thoroughly 
fertilized  with  rich  manure  at  least  one  or  two  seasons 
previous  to  the  time  of  putting  in  the  seed.  The  writer 
says :  "  In  some  parts  of  New  England  there  is  con- 

«/  O 

siderable  prejudice  among  farmers  in  regard  to  the  cul- 
ture of  wheat.  Many  having  tried  once  or  twice  to  raise 
this  kind  of  grain  and  failing,  declare  that  wheat  can- 
not be  grown  successfully  except  on  certain  farms.  I, 
however,  believe  that  wheat  can  be  cultivated  with 
profit  by  most  farmers  in  New  England,  although  it  re- 
quires some  experience  to  raise  a  good  crop.  In  saying 
this,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  that  wheat  can  be 
raised  with  satisfactory  profit  on  all  kinds  of  soil,  for  it 
cannot.  Still,  I  do  believe  that  most  farmers  in  the 
New  England  States  can,  by  judicious  management,  and 
they  ought,  to  raise  wheat  for  their  own  families.  Wheat 
ought  to  be  grown  because  it  is  an  excellent  article  of 
food  ;  and  when  successfully  cultivated,  it  is  more  profit- 
able than  any  other  grain.  Moreover,  a  crop  of  wheat 
exhausts  the  soil  where  it  grows,  less  than  a  crop  of  oats 
or  barley ;  and  grass  seed  when  sowed  for  stocking  down 
the  land,  will  germinate  and  grow  better  than  when 
sowed  where  other  cereals  are  growing.  Having  had 
considerable,  experience  and  good  success  in  raising 
wheat  and  other  crops,  perhaps  it  may  not  be  amiss  to 
record  some  of  my  observations  and  practice,  for  the 
benefit  of  my  brother  farmers  ;  although  I  feel  that  I  am 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  187 

just  a  beginner,  and  by  no  means  master  of  the  science 
of  agriculture,  which  is  the  greatest  of  all  sciences. 
And  as  every  science  is  developed  by  small  beginnings, 
why  may  I  not  add  my  mite  of  knowledge  to  aid  those 
who  may  be  inquiring  after  truth  ? 

"  The  seasons,  of  course,  will  exert  more  or  less  influ- 
ence on  all  kinds  of  crops.  Still,  in  order  to  raise  boun- 
tiful crops  of  any  kind,  farmers  have  duties  to  perform ; 
and  if  they  expect  to  succeed  and  thrive,  it  behooves 
them  to  ascertain  what  these  duties  are.  I  seldom  fail 
to  raise  a  bountiful  crop  of  wheat,  and  hardly  ever  real- 
ize less  than  twenty  bushels  per  acre ;  and  I  have  raised 
as  many  as  thirty-five  bushels  per  acre.  Last  season  I 
raised,  on  two  and  a  half  acres,  and  from  four  and  a  half 
bushels  of  seed,  seventy-five  and  a  half  bushels  of  grain 
by  weight.  My  mode  of  procedure  is  as  follows :  I 
usually  raise  a  crop  of  wheat  after  potatoes.  When  I 
first  break  up  a  piece  of  land,  I  almost  invariably  plant 
Indian  corn  and  manure  in  the  hill  with  wood  ashes, 
etc.  The  next  season  the  land  is  heavily  manured  with 
barn-yard  manure,  and  planted  with  potatoes.  No 
manure  is  applied  in  the  hill,  except  gypsum.  I  have 
raised  but  two  poor  crops  in  eleven  years ;  and  some 
seasons  my  ground  has  produced  four  hundred  bushels 
of  potatoes  per  acre.  Land  thus  managed,  has  been 
planted  two  successive  seasons.  By  the  numerous  opera- 
tions of  ploughing,  hoeing,  and  digging  the  potatoes,  the 
manure  is  thoroughly  rotted,  and  mingled  with  the  soil, 
instead  of  being  left  in  large  lumps  to  evaporate  and 
thus  lose  its  strength.  By  this  management  my  land  has 
been  enriched  and  the  fertility  equalized,  and"  is  thus  in 
an  excellent  condition  to  produce  both  straw  and  grain. 
In  conclusion,  I  would  say  to  farmers,  if  you  have  ma- 


188  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

nured  your  land  bountifully,  plough  deep  and  put  in  your 
grain  early ;  and  do  not  be  afraid  of  planting  the  seed 
too  deep.  Keep  your  old-fashioned,  iron-toothed  har- 
rows off  the  land  where  seed  wheat  has  been  sowed ; 
because  this  style  of  harrow  does  not  work  the  grain 
into  the  soil  as  deep  as  the  seed  should  be  buried.  And 
more  than  this,  the  more  you  harrow  mellow  ground 
with  such  a  harrow,  the  harder  it  becomes.  Procure  a 
good  cultivator  harrow,  as  such  implements  work  like  a 
charm,  leaving  the  ground  light,  and  bury  the  seed  as 
deep  as  it  should  be  covered.  I  sow  spring  wheat  of 
the  French  Tea  variety." 


GROWING  WHEAT  AND  TUKNIPS. 

"  No  bone-dust,  no  turnips  ;  no  turnips  no  wheat ; 
No  wheat  and  no  turnips,  no  cattle  no  meat ; 
No  turnips,  no  cattle,  nor  manure  in  the  yard. 
Makes  bills  for  the  doctors,  and  farming  go  hard." 

If  there  is  any  one  practice  among  American  farmers, 
for  which  they  deserve  sharp  rebuke,  it  is  for  permitting 
such  immense  quantities  of  bones  to  be  exported  for  the 
improvement  of  the  agriculture  of  foreign  nations. 
Thousands  of  tons  of  bones  are  collected  annually  in 
Chicago,  Buffalo,  New  York,  and  other  populous  cities, 
and  shipped  to  European  countries  to  fertilize  the  land 
for  raising  turnips,  wheat,  fat  cattle,  and  sheep.  And 
yet,  American  farmers,  in  stupid  quietude,  look  on  and 
say :  "  It  don't  pay  to  collect  bones,  and  apply  them  to 
the  soil." 

It  will  pay.  They  have  not  tested  the  application  of 
ground  bone.  There  is  not  a  meadow  nor  a  pasture  in 
the  land — with  very  few  exceptions — that  will  not  be 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  189 

greatly  benefited  by  a  dressing  of  ground  raw  bone. 
Thousands  of  acres  of  the  best  farming  land  in  New 
England  are  in  a  low  state  of  impoverishment  for  the 
want  of  a  liberal  dressing  of  raw  ground  bone.  Such 
fertilizing  matter  is  the  very  life  of  the  soil.  European 
farmers  understand  and  appreciate  this  fact.  They 
know  it  pays  to  ship  bones  from  America  to  enrich 
their  farms.  The  value  of  every  ship-load  of  bones 
that  is  picked  from  our  land  cannot  readily  be  computed 
in  dollars  and  cents  to  the  agriculture  of  our  country. 
England  delights  in  her  own  fatness  produced  on  the 
choice  cheese  of  American  dairies,  while  we  mutter  and 
grumble  over  a  pot  of  the  whey.  Europeans  rejoice 
over  the  rich,  sweet  American  butter,  while  we  are  so 
unaccountably  stupid  as  to  be  satisfied  with  the  butter- 
milk. Our  farmers  dig  and  delve,  and  rake  and  scrape 
their  grain-fields,  meadows,  and  pastures  to  get  phos- 
phatic  fertilizers  to  send  to  Europe  to  produce  big  crops 
of  turnips,  and  then  grumble  and  denounce  their  own 
land  as  good  for  nothing,  because  their  turnips  refuse  to 
grow  as  they  do  in  Eastern  countries.  The  truth  on 
this  point  is,  American  farmers  must  save  and  apply 
more  manure  to  their  impoverished  land:  especially 
must  they  save  bones  for  growing  a  crop  of  turnips.  As 
soon  as  we  can  produce  a  bountiful  crop  of  turnips  we 
can  grow  wheat.  Wheat  and  turnips  in  England  go 
hand  in  hand.  And  when  the  wheat  soils  of  America 
are  rendered  sufficiently  fertile  to  produce  a  crop  of  tur- 
nips, we  may  have  the  eminent  satisfaction  of  seeing 
bountiful  crops  of  choice  wheat,  where  now  the  yield 
will  scarcely  defray  the  expenses  of  harvesting  and 
thrashing  the  crop.  Sometimes  a  farmer  will  have  to 
cultivate  for  several  years  before  he  can  produce  wheat. 


190  THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


WHEAT  AFTER  PEAS. 

A  crop  of  peas  is  one  of  the  most  advantageous  crops  to 
precede  winter  wheat.  In  many  sections  of  the  ^country, 
where  winter  wheat  is  cultivated  to  considerable  extent, 
a  crop  of  early  peas  is  preferred,  as  a  preparatory  crop, 
where  winter  wheat  is  to  grow.  But,  a  thin  dressing 
of  well-rotted  barn-yard  manure  is  usually  prepared 
during  the  summer,  and  ploughed  in,  after  the  peas  are 
harvested.  In  some  instances  the  manure  is  hauled 
to  the  field  as  soon  as  the  peas  have  been  re- 
moved, and  is  ploughed  under,  and  the  wheat  put  in 
as  soon  as  it  is  practicable  to  do  it,  after  the  first  of 
September. 

Another  mode,  which  is  preferred  by  some  good 
farmers,  is  to  remove  the  peas  as  early  in  August  as 
practicable,  and  plough  the  ground  from  six  to  eight 
inches  deep  ;  and  then,  about  the  first  of  September, 
spread  the  manure,  very  evenly  and  thin,  over  the  entire 
soil ;  and  then  plough  it  under  with  a  gang-plough,  or 
•with  such  a  cultivator  as  is  illustrated  on  page  142  of  this 
book,  adjusted  to  run  about  four  inches  deep,  after 
which  the  wheat  is  drilled  in. 

The  preparation  which  the  barn-yard  manure  receives, 
when  it  is  applied  for  wheat,  after  a  crop  of  peas,  is, 
to  haul  the  manure  from  the  barn-yard  in  the  former 
part  of  the  season,  and  pile  it  up  in  the  field  during 
the  summer,  forking  it  over  sometimes,  in  order  to  have 
it  well  rotted  and  finely  pulverized  ;  and  after  the  ground 
has  been  ploughed  once  with  the  common  plough,  and 
sometimes  crossed  with  the  gang-ploughs,  the  manure  is 
neatly  spread  on  the  surface,  and  the  ground  thoroughly 
harrowed,  by  which  the  manure  is  about  all  covered 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  191 

with  more  or  less  earth  near  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
This  system  of  management  usually  insures  a  fair 
crop  of  wheat.  But,  on  certain  kinds  of  soil,  the  prep- 
aration is  not  as  it  should  be  for  a  crop  of  winter  grain. 
"Where  the  surface  soil  is  thin — where  there  is  only  a 
thin  stratum  of  vegetable  mould,  special  care  should  be 
exercised  to  keep  the  mould  at  the  surface,  and  not 
turn  it  all  seven  or  eight  inches  beneath  a  cold  and  un- 
fertile subsoil.  I  have  observed,  that  some  farmers 
have  failed  entirely  to  produce  a  fair  crop  of  wheat 
after  peas,  because  they  did  not  observe  this  precaution, 
to  keep  their  best  soil  at  the  surface.  There  was  only 
a  thin  stratum  of  mould  resting  on  a  heavy,  calcareous 
clay,  which  was  turned  up  to  the  surface  ;  while  all  the 
manure  and  fertile  mould  were  buried  beyond  the  imme- 
diate reach  of  the  young  plants. 

The  ground,  in  such  localities,  should  always  be 
ploughed  shallow ;  and  the  seed-bed  should  be  deepened 
by  a  regular  subsoil  plough,  or  with  such  an  one  as  I 
have  illustrated  on  page  162.  The  best  soil  should  be 
kept  near  the  surface ;  and  the  fine  manure  should  be 
covered  as  lightly  as  practicable,  for  the  reason  which 
has  been  assigned  in  the  former  part  of  this  chapter. 
(Kead  also  the  remarks  under  the  Habit  of  the  Wheat 
Plant ;  and  How  Freezing  and  Thawing  Injures  Grow- 
ing Wheat,  on  page  126.) 

As  a  crop  of  early  peas  will  mature  in  a  short  period 
of  time ;  as  the  vines  grow  rapidly,  and  thus  get  the 
start  of  weeds ;  and  as  the  crop  takes  up  only  a  small 
quantity  of  the  wheat-producing  material  in  the  soil, 
this  crop  can  be  raised  with  more  profit  than  a  crop  of 
oats,  barley,  or  Indian  corn,  in  some  instances.  A  crop 
of  growing  peas,  when  there  is  not  an  excess  of  moist- 


192  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

Tire  in  the  soil,  will  often  render  a  compact  and  lumpy 
soil  as  mellow  and  lively  as  a  friable  loam.  When  the 
peas  are  fed  out  to  fattening  stock,  and  the  manure  of 
the  animals  sayed  with  care,  and  returned  to**  the  soil 
where  the  peas  grew,  the  pea  crop  will  always  be  found 
an  excellent  ameliorator  of  a  heavy  and  poor  soil".  A 
crop  of  green  peas  will  always  be  found  fully  equal  to  a 
crop  of  red  clover  to  turn  under  with  the  plough  as  a 
renovator  of  a  poor  soil.  Yet  I  would  prefer  a  crop  of 
Indian  corn  for  such  a  purpose,  as  the  stalks  will  furnish 
more  vegetable  matter  than  a  crop  of  peas.  (Read  the 
chapter  on  Manures  in  my  second  volume  of  the  Young 
Farmer's  Manual.) 

Peas  are  a  very  exhausting  crop,  when  everything  is 
removed  from  the  field  and  nothing  returned  to  the  soil 
as  an  equivalent  for  the  crop.  But  when  the  peas  are 
all  fed  out  to  stock,  and  their  manure  saved  and  applied 
to  the  land,  peas  are  an  excellent  renovator ;  and  where 
the  soil  is  heavy,  a  crop  of  peas  should  constitute  a 
prominent  one  in  the  rotation  system,  especially  where 
winter  wheat  is  cultivated. 

Joseph  Harris,  who  resides  in  one  of  the  finest  wheat- 
growing  counties  of  New  York,  writes  :  "  In  preparing 
heavy  land  for  wheat,  it  is  still  necessary,  in  many 
cases,  to  resort  to  summer  fallows.  On  the  light  soils 
we  may  take  a  crop  of  beans,  planted  in  rows  and  thor- 
oughly horse-hoed,  and  sow  wheat  afterward.  On 
heavier  soils  I  have  seen  an  excellent  crop  of  wheat 
follow  a  crop  of  peas,  which  had  been  sown  instead  of 
fallowing.  The  great  drawback  to  the  peas  is  that  they 
are  affected  by  the  bug.  But  if  fed  out  early  to  hogs, 
the  bugs  do  not  injure  them  materially,  while  they  are 
very  fattening  and  make  rich  manure.  You  can  com- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJKIST.  193 

nience  feeding  them  to  hogs  on  the  land,  while  the  peas 
are  still  green." 

SHEEP  IN  CONNECTION  WITH  WHEAT. 

Although  bountiful  crops  of  wheat  may  be  produced 
by  the  application  of  commercial  fertilizers  to  the  soil, 
still  the  true  way  to  grow  wheat  successfully  is  to  keep 
sheep  and  make  mutton,  and  at  the  same  time  employ 
their '  manure  to  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil. 
Bountiful  crops  of  wheat  can  be  grown  in  connection 
with  fatting  neat  cattle  and  hogs,  or  horses,  provided 
the  animals  get  a  liberal  supply  of  coarse  grain ;  and 
providing  also  their  manure  be  saved  with  care  and  ap- 
plied to  the  soil.  Farmers  may  set  it  down  as  an  incon 
trovertible  fact,  that  they  cannot  grow  wheat  of  any 
kind  successfully,  without  applying  to  the  soil  some  kind 
of  fertilizing  material  that  will  supply  an  abundance  of 
grain-producing  pabulum  in  the  soil  for  the  develop- 
ment of  the  wheat  kernels.  I  will  reiterate  what  will 
bear  repeating  again  and  again,  that  if  the  land  be  ma- 
nured with  strawy  manure,  the  crops  of  wheat  will  be 
mostly  straw,  with  a  small  yield  of  grain.  We  cannot 
cheat  any  soil  by  manuring  with  haulm,  and  think  to 
get  a  heavy  yield  of  grain.  If  the  ground  be  enriched 
with  grain-producing  material,  a  farmer  can  hardly  fail 
to  realize  a  fair  crop.  One  of  the  most  efficacious  ways 
to  secure  a  bountiful  yield  of  wheat  would  be  to  sow 
wheat  flour,  or  drill  it  in  with  the  seed  grain. 

If  I  desired  to  produce  the  largest  crop  of  wheat  that 
had  ever  been  grown,  after  enriching  the  soil  with  a 
liberal  dressing  of  the  best  manure,  I  would  sow  thirty 
or  forty  bushels  of  wheat  flour  per  acre,  drilling  it  in 

9 


194  THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

with  the  seed  grain.  Such  a  dressing  would  operate 
like  magic  in  the  production  of  a  heavy  crop  of  wheat. 
I  would  not  recommend  the  practice  of  sowing  wheat 
flour,  for  the  purpose  of  producing  an  enormous  brop  of 
grain  ;  I  simply  allude  to  this  suggestion  of  fertilizing 
the  soil  with  wheat  flour,  for  the  purpose  of  showing 
that  in  order  to  raise  wheat  there  must  be  some  material 
in  the  soil  that  the  wheat  plants  will  take  up  and  appro- 
priate to  the  development  of  the  new  grain.  These 
thoughts  will  show  the  young  farmer  what  the  soil  re- 
quires. 

Now,  the  question  arises,  how  can  a  farmer  employ 
his  grain  as  a  fertilizer,  and  at  the  same  time  avail  him- 
self of  its  cash  value  besides  ?  I  answer,  by  making 
mutton,  and  applying  the  valuable  manure  of  his  fat 
sheep  to  his  soil.  When  grain  or  meal  is  fed  -to  fat- 
tening stock,  only  a  small  part  of  it  is  appropriated  to 
the  growth  and  development  of  the  animal,  while  a 
large  proportion  is  cast  out  into  the  manure  heap.  This 
is  the  material  for  producing  a  large  yield  of  grain. 
Manure  that  is  made  by  fattening  sheep  will  furnish 
large  supplies  of  just  such  materials  as  the  wheat  plants 
must  have,  to  yield  a  bountiful  crop  of  grain.  Conse- 
quently, if  a  farmer  will  combine  sheep-fattening  with 
wheat-growing,  he  can  scarcely  fail  to  bring  an  ordinary 
soil  into  such  a  state  of  fertility,  in  a  few  years,  that  he 
can  reap  bountiful  crops  of  wheat  of  a  choice  0Luality. 
But  sheep-raising  and  wheat-growing  will  not  succeed 
at  all  satisfactorily,  unless  sheep  are  kept  in  a  growing 
and  thrifty  condition-  by  feeding  large  quantities  of 
coarse  grain,  and  oil  meal  and  turnips,  or  roots  of  some 
kind.  A  farmer  may  just  as  well  take  the  products  of 
his  land  and  pitch  them  into  the  mill-pond,  and  think  to 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTERIST.  195 

improve  the  productiveness  of  his  land,  as  to  attempt  to 
feed  and  fatten  sheep  without  first  selecting  animals 
that  will  fatten  readily.  Another  consideration  is,  prop- 
er protection  of  sheep.  Wet  and  cold  weather  is  ex- 
ceedingly detrimental  to  sheep  of  any  kind.  Water 
dripping  through  leaky  sheds  is  very  disagreeable  and 
injurious  to  sheep.  They  always  hate  a  wet  and  cold 
place,  as  much  so  as  a  neat  cat  hates  a  wet  floor. 

The  leading  idea  in  fattening  sheep  should  be,  to  pre- 
pare a  large  supply  of  rich  manure,  especially  when  a 
crop  of  wheat  is  desired.  A  flock  of  sheep  will  reduce 
a  large  stack  of  straw  to  manure  more  readily  than  it 
can  be  done  with  a  lot  of  neat  cattle.  But  the  sheep 
must  have  grain,  and  some  oil  meal  mingled  with  the 
grain,  or  with  the  grain  meal.  If  sheep  are  young,  and 
have  excellent  teeth,  and  a  grist  mill  is  not  conveniently 
near,  it  will  not  pay  to  grind  grain  before  feeding  it  to 
sheep,  as  they  masticate  their  feed  remarkably  fine.  It 
is  a  rare  occurrence  that  any  kind  of  grain  or  seeds  of 
noxious  weeds  pass  through  sheep  without  having  the 
vitality  of  the  germs  destroyed.  For  this  reason  whole 
grain  may  be  fed  to  sheep  with  satisfactory  profit,  when 
the  same  grain  could  not  be  fed  to  neat  cattle  with 
desirable  results.  I  think  farmers  will  understand  my 
idea  of  feeding  sheep  on  coarse  grain  with  a  view  to  ren- 
ovating the  soil  for  the  production  of  wheat.  There  is 
no  other  feasible  and  practicable  manner  of  maintaining 
the  perpetual  fertility  of  the  wheat  fields  of  America 
than  by  growing  red  clover,  fattening  sheep,  hogs,  or 
neat  cattle,  and  raising  a  bountiful  supply  of  turnips 
for  stock  during  the  foddering  season.  By  feeding 
coarse  grain,  turnips,  oil  meal,  red  clover,  and'  wheat 
straw  to  sheep,  and  by  applying  their  manure  judiciously 


196  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

to  the  land,  after  a  few  years  of  skilful  management  the 
productiveness  of  poor  farms  may  be  greatly  improved, 
and  good  land  can  be  rendered  much  more  productive. 
Oil  meal  and  coarse  grain  fed  to  sheep  in  connection 
with  some  hay,  cornstalks,  and'  wheat  straw,  will  make 
a  quality  of  manure  that  will  produce  wheat  on  almost 
any  kind  of  soil,  whether  it  is  light  or  heavy. 


WHEAT  AND  CATTLE. 

In  the  second  volume  of  my  Young  Farmer's  Manual 
I  penned  some  suggestions  touching  the  importance  of 
adopting  a  mixed  husbandry.  That  is  the  true  way  to 
maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  especially  where  rais- 
ing wheat  constitutes  a  part  of  the  products  of  the 
farm.  Intimately  connected  with  the  subject  under 
consideration  are  the  remarks  of  the  Editor  of  the 
"  Western  Rural,"  who  writes : 

"  Michigan  farmers  have  a  mania  for  growing  wheat, 
while  they  too  much  neglect  other  important  and  profit- 
able farm  products.  In  1860,  Michigan  produced 
8,313,185  bushels  of  wheat — a  little  more  than  one- 
twentieth  of  the  whole  amount  grown  in  the  United 
States.  Of  cheese  in  the  same  year  it  produced  only 
2,009,064  pounds.  The  little  State  of  Yermont,  with 
an  area  about  two-elevenths  as  great,  produced  8,077,089 
pounds  of  cheese,  but  only  431,127  bushels  of  wheat. 
That  Yermont  did  not  grow  so  little  wheat  because  her 
soil  is  not  adapted  to  wheat  culture,  is  shown  from  the 
fact  that  the  average  yield  of  wheat  per  acre  in  Yer- 
mont, in  the  year  1864,  as  shown  by  the  Report  of  the 
Department  of  Agriculture  for  January,  1865,  was  four- 
teen bushels  per  acre,  while  in  Michigan  the  average 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUBIST.  197 

yield  per  acre  for  the  same  year  was  but  twelve  bushels 
Thus  it  is  seen  that  although  the  farmers  of  Vermont 
can  grow  fourteen  bushels  of  wheat  on  the  amount  of 
land  from  which  Michigan  farmers  get  twelve  bushels, 
yet  the  Vermont  farmers  prefer  to  give  attention  to 
dairy  products  to  the  almost  entire  neglect  of  wheat. 
Why  is  this  ?  Evidently  because  they  find  dairy  farm- 
ing the  most  profitable. 

"  Michigan  farmers  do  not  manufacture  cheese  enough 
to  supply  the  home  market,  but  give  their  labor  and 
land  to  the  production  of  but  twelve  bushels  of  wheat 
per  acre.  In  the  early  days  of  the  State,  when  wheat 
was  almost  the  only  article  that  brought  the  farmer 
ready  money,  when  it  was  a  sure  crop,  when  the  soil 
was  a  virgin  one,  and  when  most  farmers  possessed  but 
little  capital,  there  were  doubtless  good  reasons  why 
wheat  should  be  grown  almost  exclusively ;  but  we  are 
convinced  that  those  reasons  are  not  now  so  strongly  in 
force,  and  that  there  are  other  and  strong  reasons  why 
our  farmers  should  give  greater  attention  to  dairy  prod- 
ucts and  stock. 

"  We  do  not  object  to  the  growing  of  wheat  per  se. 
It  is  one  of  our  most  valuable  crops.  When  a  proper 
rotation  is  pursued  it  can  scarcely  be  dispensed  with. 
What  we  do  object  to,  is  the  great  attention  given  to 
wheat-growing  to  the  exclusion  of  other  branches  of 
farming  which  are  as  profitable  as  wheat-growing,  or 
more  so.  As  we  said  above,  our  farmers  have  a  mania 
for  growing  wheat,  a  mania  which  they  pursue  to  such 
an  extent  that  their  lands  grow  less  and  less  fertile  from 
year  to  year.  Growing  wheat  as  most  Western  farmers 
grow  it,  is  a  continual  draught  on  the  resources  of  the 
soil  with  no  adequate  return ;  and  however  rich  a  soil 


198  THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

may  be  at  first,  it  will  in  time  deteriorate  under  such 
usage.  Clover  and  plaster  are  the  principal  fertilizers 
on  most  wheat  farms.  When  their  use  is  continued  for 
a  series  of  years,  the  farmers  begin  to  complain  that 
their  land  is  '  clover-sick '  or  '  plaster-sick  ; '  that  it 
will  not  give  profitable  returns.  Land  so  treated  will 
inevitably  give  out.  It  is  every  year  deprived  of  many 
of  its  most  valuable  constituents  in  the  crops  of  wheat 
which  are  taken  off — constituents  which  are  by  no  means 
fully  returned  in  the  fertilizers,  clover  and  plaster. 
That  our  lands  are  losing  their  fertility,  we  see  in  the  fact 
that  they  now  produce  less  per  acre  than  the  naturally 
poorer  soil  of  the  Eastern  States ;  for  in  those  States 
such  an  exhausting  system  of  cropping  is  not  pursued. 

"  Now  by  giving  to  wheat  no  more  than  its  due  share 
of  attention,  by  keeping  a  large  portion  of  land  in 
meadow,  and  pasture,  and  root  crops,  and  feeding  the  pro- 
duce to  animals  either  for  the  dairy  or  the  shambles,  farm- 
ers will  surely  reap  as  large  immediate  returns  as  when 
wheat  is  the  main  crop — and  we  believe  much  larger — • 
and  can,  by  aid  of  the  large  amount  of  manure  which 
they  will  manufacture,  keep  their  land  in  excellent  con- 
dition." 

This  is  the  key  note  to  successful  wheat-growing  all 
over  the  world — raising  stock,  making  beef,  mutton,  or 
pork,  and  applying  rich  manure  to  the  soil.  The  sooner 
farmers  become  so  thoroughly  con  vine  ad  of  this  .fact, 
the  better  it  will  be  for  their  pockets,  for  the  land,  and 
for  the  whole  country.  It  is  exceedingly  unfortunate  to 
our  country,  that  our  valuable  wheat  fields,  all  over  the 
land,  are  depleted  and  almost  ruined  by  a  bad  system 
of  farm  management.  Our  successors  will  feel  this  slack 
cultivation. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  199 


FLNK'S  IRON  CULTIVATOR. 

The  accompanying  figure  represents  an  excellent 
cultivator,  recently  invented  by  J.  Fink,  Baldwinsville, 
Onondaga  County,  E".  Y.,  which  possesses  many  points 
of  superior  merit.  The  frame  is  made  of  iron,  and  the 
teeth  are  of  superior  steel.  The  implement  possesses  a 


FIG.  33.— Fink's  Iron  Cultivator. 

combination  of  desirable  points,  which  constitute  an 
efficient  •  and  convenient  implement  for  cultivating 
summer  fallows,  winter  fallows,  for  scarifying  stubble 
ground,  and  dressing  out  crops  in  rows ;  and  besides  this, 
many  farmers  think  it  the  most  effective  implement  for 
digging  potatoes  that  is  now  in  use.  Where  there  are 
more  or  less  stumps,  stabs,  or  rocks,  to  cultivate  around 
and  among,  a  cultivator  having  handles  will  be  found 
more  convenient  than  one  without  handles. 

The  wings  are  so  arranged,  that  the  teeth  can  be  made 
to  cut  a  wide  trough ;  or  they  may  be  contracted  so  as 
to  cut  only  a  narrow  strip,  either  deep  or  shallow.  As 
the  cut  affords  such  an  excellent  idea  of  the  implement, 
the  foregoing  verbal  description  will  be  sufficient  to  con- 
vey a  fair  understanding  of  its  construction  and  opera- 
tion. 


200  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


CULTIVATING  GROWING  WHEAT. 

It  has  been  often  suggested,  that  wheat  would  yield  a 
much  more  abundant  crop  of  grain,  were  the  ^growing 
plants  cultivated  with  a  horse-hoe  and  hand-tools.  We 
have,  however,  no  experiments  to  establish  this  point. 
On  the  contrary,  judging  from  the  habit  of  the  wheat 
plant,  I  think  that  the  less  the  soil  is  stirred  after  the 
wheat  is  put  in,  the  better  it  will  be  for  the  growing 
crop.  I  will  tell  why.  Every  wheat  plant  sends  out 
numerous  roots  near  the  surface  of  the  ground.  If  we 
examine  a  stool  of  growing  wheat  on  new  land,  when 
the  surface  is  covered  with  a  fine,  vegetable  mould,  we 
shall  find  that  there  are  more  roots  near  the  surface,  than 
can  be  found  several  inches  beneath  the  surface.  Cut 
off  those  surface  roots  with  a  broad  hoe,  or  with  a 
harrow,  or  cultivator,  and  nature  will  at  once  appro- 
priate all  the  energies  of  the  growing  plants  to  form  a 
new  system  of  roots,  near  the  surface.  This  fact  teaches 
us  that  the  growing  wheat  plants  do  not  need  root-prun- 
ing. If  a  horse-hoe,  or  hand-hoes  be  employed  to  cut 
up  the  surface  of  the  ground  between  the  rows,  the  sur- 
face, or  coronal  roots  will  be  seriously  mutilated,  to  the 
injury  of  the  plants.  I  think  that  all  good  farmers  and 
practical  gardeners  will  coincide  with  me  on  this  point, 
that  after  the  seed  has  been  put  in,  the  surface  of  the 
soil  should  not  be  disturbed  by  implements  of  husbandry. 
If  noxious  weeds  and  grass  spring  up  among  the  growing 
grain,  let  them  be  pulled  up  by  hand,  and  laid  between 
the  rows,  where  they  will  subserve  the  purpose  of  a 
mulch  to  the  wheat.  Weeds  may  be  pulled  up,  when 
they  appear  among  the  wheat ;  but  they  should  never 
be  cut  up  with  hoes.  The  soil  should  be  so  thoroughly 


THE    WHEAT   CULTTJKIST.  201 

prepared,  that  the  growing  wheat  will  outstrip  the 
weeds,  and  maintain  the  ascendency  until  harvest  time. 
It  is  contended  by  some  writers,  that  the  efficiency  of 
the  preparatory  tillage  is  lost  by  the  fine  particles  of 
the  soil  coalescing,  or  running  together,  thus  forming  a 
crust  over  the  surface,  which  excludes  the  atmospheric 
supplies  of  nourishment  to  the  roots  of  the  growing 
plants.  In  numerous  instances,  particularly  when  the 
soil  is  very  heavy,  long  before  the  crop  has  reached  the 
period  of  perfect  maturity,  the  soil  will  be  found  almost 
as  impervious  to  water  and  as  firm  as  it  was  before  the 
ground  was  ploughed  preparatory  to  sowing  the  seed. 
This  is  frequently  the  case.  When  carting  the  crop 
after  harvest,  the  surface  is  sometimes  so  firm  and  in- 
durated, that  the  tracks  of  the  teams  and  loaded  wheels 
can  scarcely  be  traced.  Instead  of  cultivating  the 
growing  plants,  prepare  the  soil  as  directed  in  the  sec- 
ond volume  of  the  Young  Farmer's  Manual,  by  the 
author,  under  the  head  of  Keeping  the  Best  Soil  at  the 
Surface. 


HARROWING  WINTER  WHEAT. 

The  practice  of  harrowing  winter  wheat  in  the  spring 
of  the  year  has  been  frequently  recommended  by  some 
practical  farmers  and  certain  agricultural  writers,  while 
others  have  denounced  this  operation  as  productive  of 
more  injury  than  benefit  to  the  growing  plants.  It  is 
by  no  means  difficult  to  explain  why  harrowing  winter 
wheat  in  the  spring  may  prove  beneficial  in  one  in- 
stance and  not  in  another ;  and  it  is  easy  to  show  when 
the  young  wheat  plants  may  be  benefited  by  harrow- 
ing and  when  a  harrow  would  do  far  greater  injury  than 

9* 


202  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

good.  When  wheat  is  growing  on  a  light  and  dry  soil, 
where  the  seed  was  sowed  broadcast  and  harrowed  in, 
as  many  of  the  young  plants  would  be  found  rooted 
near  the  surface,  a  harrowing  would  be  liable,  to  do 
greater  injury  by  tearing  up  large  numbers  of  such 
stools  of  wheat,  than  the  scarifying  of  the  land  would 
benefit  the  crop.  Again,  when  the  seed  has  been  put 
in  with  a  grain  drill,  say  two  inches  deep,  and  the  sur- 
face of  the  land  seems  to  be  covered  with  a  hard  crust 
of  earth,  a  light  harrowing,  when  the  ground  is  suffi- 
ciently dry  to  be  ploughed,  would  prove  of  great  benefit 
to  the  young  wheat  plants.  But  the  operation  should 
be  performed  with  a  light  harrow,  having  numerous 
small  teeth,  rather  than  with  a  heavy  implement  pro- 
vided with  only  a  few  large  teeth.  When  winter  wheat 
has  been  put  in  with  a  drill  about  two  inches  deep,  all 
the  primary  roots  will  be  found  at  that  depth  below  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  until  after  the  growing  season  of 
the  succeeding  spring  has  so  far  advanced  as  to  produce 
a  system  of  secondary  roots  near  the  surface  of  the 
ground.  This  fact  suggests  why  winter  wheat — if  har- 
rowed at  all — should  be  harrowed  very  early  in  the 
spring,  before  the  growing  season  has  commenced.  The 
object  of  harrowing  so  early  is  twofold :  one  is  to  pul- 
verize the  hard  incrustation  that  has  been  formed  on 
the  surface,  so  that  there  may  be  a  thin  stratum  of  mel- 
low ground  between  the  primary  roots  of  the  wheat 
plants  and  the  surface,  instead  of  a  crust  of  calcareous 
earth,  which  is  almost  impenetrable  by  the  secondary 
roots  of  the  young  plants.  This  would  be  eminently 
essential  to  the  perfect  growth  and  development  of  the 
wheat  plant,  were  there  no  secondary  roots  to  appear 
after  the  young  plants  have  attained  a  grow.th  of  a  foot 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST.  203 

or  more  in  height.  'The  second  object  of  harrowing  the 
soil  is  to  form  a  mellow  seed-bed  at  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  around  each  plant,  through  which  the  second- 
ary roots  may  spread  with  facility,  when  that  period  in 
the  growing -season  has  arrived  for  the  young  plants  to 
put  forth  their  secondary  roots.  Roots  of  trees,  bushes, 
vines,  or  roots  of  grass  or  plants  that  produce  grain, 
spread  with  the  utmost  difficulty  through  clods,  or  a  hard 
crust  of  almost  any  kind  of  ground.  But  when  there 
is  a  liberal  supply  of  calcareous  matter  in  the  hard 
lumps,  or  crust  of  earth,  roots  will  not  spread  through 
the  soil  in  such  a  condition  much  sooner  than  they  will 
enter  soft  stones. 

Still  another  object  in  harrowing  winter  wheat  is  to 
bury  the  grass-seed,  or  clover-seed,  when  the  land  is 
stocked  down  in  the  spring  of  the  year. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  correspondent  of  the  "  Cultiva- 
tor "  wrote  thus :  "  Myron  Adams,  of  East  Bloomfield, 
New  York,  has  for  many  years  harrowed  over  the  whole 
of  his  wheat  fields  every  spring,  pulverizing  the  crust 
and  greatly  benefiting  the  crop.  If  the  ground  is  to 
be  seeded  with  clover,  it  is  harrowed  in  at  this  time. 
The  whole  amount  torn  up  by  the  roots  has  been  found 
by  examination  not  to  exceed  the  amount  of  a  bushel 
on  ten  acres.  The  wheat  looks  rather  unpromising 
when  thus  dusted  over  with  earth ;  but  the  first  shower 
washes  it  off,  and  leaves  it  clean,  fresh,  and  vigorous." 

WHEAT.  ON  SOD  GROUND, 

i 

Raising  a  crop  of  wheat  on  sod  ground  in  some  sec- 
tions of  the  country  is  practised  with  satisfactory  success^ 
while  in  most  inateuoes,  all  efforts  to  produce  a  fair  crop 


204  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

of  wheat  on  inverted  sod  have  ended  in  complete  fail- 
ures. In  Monroe  County,  N.  Y.,  one  of  the  noted  lo- 
calities for  producing  fair  crops  of  winter  wheat,  many 
excellent  farmers  were  accustomed  to  raise  wheat  on 
sod  ground,  by  preparing  the  land  in  the  following 
manner : 

About  the  first  of  September  the  sod  is  neatly  plough- 
ed about  eight  inches  deep,  with  a  lap  furrow,  after 
which  a  roller  is  passed  over  it,  when  a  thin  coat  of 
good  barn-yard  compost  is  spread  evenly  over  the  surface, 
and  is  either  well  harrowed  in,  or  is  turned  under  very 
shallowly  with  the  gang-plows,  which  usually  cut  from 
three  to  four  feet  in  width  at  one  through.  The 
wheat  is  then  put  in  about  the  fifth  or  tenth  of  Sep- 
tember. 

It  will  be  perceived  by  this  system  of  management 
with  the  soil,  that  the  surface  of  the  seed-bed  is  prepared  in 
exact  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  Tiabit  of 
the  wheat  plant.  Read  the  remarks  under  the  head  of 
the  Habit  of  Wheat,  on  a  preceding  page. 

By  passing  a  roller  over  the  ploughed  land,  the  furrow 
slices  which  lay  up  loosely,  are  pressed  down  firmly 
together.  Then,  by  scarifying  the  surface  with  gang- 
ploughs,  or  cultivators,  so  as  to  pulverize  the  surface  to 
the  depth  of  about  three  or  four  inches,  and  fertilizing 
the  surface  with  a  rich  compost,  so  that  most  of  the  roots 
will  spread  out  horizontally,  instead  of  striking  down- 
ward vertically,  the  young  plants  will  be  well  prepared 
to  resist  the  sinister  influences  of  the  cold  weather,  which 
arise  from  the  upheaval  and  settling  back  of  the  surface 
of  the  soil. 

But  I  would  not,  as  a  general  rule,  recommend  the 
practice  of  attempting  to  raise  wheat  on  sod  ground,  un- 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTUJRIST.  205 

less  the  land  is  very  free  from  noxious  weeds  of  all  kinds, 
and  grass  that  will  not  decay  readily,  and  the  soil  in  an 
excellent  state  of  fertility.  When  the  land  is  at  all  foul, 
and  any  kind  of  grass  has  taken  possession  of  the  soil 
which  will  grow  up  after  ploughing,  before  the  wheat 
can  come  up,  a  farmer  may  about  as  well  sow  his  seed 
wheat  in  a  pasture  field,  with  the  expectation  of  growing 
a  fair  crop  of  grain.  Wheat  will  not  thrive  at  the  same 
time  where  noxious  grass  nourishes. 

SOWING  WHEAT  AMONG  INDIAN  COEN. 

In  some  parts  of  the  West,  where  the  soil  is  so  fertile 
that  farmers  entertain  the  erroneous  notion  that  its  fer- 
tility is  inexhaustible,  the  practice  is  in  vogue  of  sowing 
seed  wheat  among  the  growing  corn,  and  covering  the 
seed  with*  the  horse-hoe  and  hand-hoes,  in  the  latter  part 
of  summer,  or  even  in  September.  A  farmer  writes  to 
one  of  our  Western  papers,  that  "  sowing  wheat  among 
standing  corn  is  an  excellent  practice  when  done  by 
competent  workmen.  The  most  successful  plan  will  be 
found  to  plant  the  corn  in  rows  five  or  six  feet  apart, 
and  the  hills  in  the  rows  two  feet  apart.  The  plough- 
ings,  horse-hoeings,  and  dressing  with  the  steel-tooth 
cultivator,  will  all  require  to  be  done  in  one  direction 
across  the  field,  and  not  in  right-angular  rows,  as  is  the 
common  practice ;  and  before  the  wheat  is  sown,  the 
ground  should  be  made  level  with  a  steel-tooth  cultivator 
or  harrow.  The  time  for  seeding  should  be  the  last  of 
August ;  the  quantity  sown  per  acre,  two  bushels — and 
the  seed  should  be  ploughed  in,  putting  the  whole  field 
into  lands  the  width  of  the  rows  of  corn.  The  stalks 
may  remain  on  the  ground  during  winter,  and  about 


206  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

the  first  of  March  be  chopped  down,  and  allowed  to  re- 
main on  the  surface." 

I  perceive  serious  objections  to  this  system  of  seeding. 
The  first  is,  the  great  injury  done  to  the  growing  corn, 
by  the  teeth  of  the  tools  and  horse  implements,  which 
will  tear  up  the  roots  of  the  corn,  to  tiie  great  injury  of 
the  crop.  Indian  corn  needs  no  root-pruning.  Horse- 
hoes  cannot  be  employed  between  the  rows  after  the 
plants  have  put  out  their  tassels,  without  seriously  in- 
juring the  roots,  which  often  extend  two  or  three  feet 
down  the  stems.  Sowing  seed  wheat  among  growing 
corn  may  be  well  for-  the  wheat  plants,  but  it  will  be 
exceedingly  injurious  to  the  crop  of  Indian  corn. 

Another  consideration  of  some  little  account  is  this : 
When  sowing  wheat  among  growing  corn,  the  large  and 
broad  leaves  of  the  growing  plants  will  gather  many  of 
the  kernels,  and  thus  prevent  their  falling  to  tKe  ground 
in  due  time  to  take  root  before  winter.  And  much  of 
the  grain  would  be  destroyed  by  exposure  to  alternate 
wet  and  sunshine,  while  the  kernels  are  lodged  in  the 
stems  of  corn. 

SOWING  WHEAT  ON  CORN  STUBBLE. 

The  practice  of  sowing  wheat  on  corn  ground,  in 
autumn,  used  to  be  more  in  vogue  than  it  is  at  the 
present  day.  In  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States,  farm- 
ers were  accustomed  to  sow  winter  wheat  in  autumn, 
after  a  crop  of  Indian  corn  had  been  removed ;  but  the 
practice  is  now  nearly  abandoned.  A  writer  in  the 
"  Ohio  Farmer  v  states,  that  "  it  is  still  the  practice  with 
a  few  farmers,  on  the  rich  lands  of  Ohio,  and  other 
States,  to  sow  land  to  wheat  in  the  fall,  on  which  corn 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  207 

has  been  grown  the  same  season.  A  sod  is  turned  over 
for  corn,  upon  which  manure  is  spread,  if  the  land  is 
not  rich  enough  without  it,  and  as  soon  as  the  corn  is 
cut  and  stooked  in  the  fall,  the  land  is  harrowed  to 
level  the  corn  rows,  and  the  wheat  is  drilled  in.  The 
stooks  of  corn  are  placed  in  rows  as  far  apart  as  pos- 
sible, and  the  drill  runs  close  to  them,  leaving  un- 
seeded the  space  occupied  by  the  stooks,  which  are  set 
in  as  straight  rows  as  possible,  so  as  to  leave  as  little 
land  unseeded  as  possible.  The  land  is  seeded  down 
to  such  grasses  as  are  desired  at  the  same  time  the 
wheat  is  sown. 

"It  is  said  that  good  crops  of  wheat  are  grown  in 
this  way,  but  only  on  lands  that  are  in  good  fertility, 
and  where  the  corn  has  been  well  cultivated.  It  saves 
one  season  in  time,  and  one  ploughing,  which  are  objects 
of  importance  ;  but  the  unseeded  strips  where  the  corn 
stooks  are  placed,  make  this  system  less  satisfactory  than 
it  would  be,  if  the  entire  field  could  be  seeded  down  at 
once.  The  unseeded  strips,  however,  may  be  harrowed 
early  in  the  following  spring,  and  seeded  down  to  the 
same  grasses  that  were  sowed  on  other  parts  of  the  field, 
and  after  harvesting  the  wheat  the  entire  field  would  be 
uniform." 

There  is  a  plausible  objection  to  sowing  winter  wheat 
after  corn,  where  the  crop  of  corn  is  not  removed  from 
the  ground  before  the  wheat  is  sowed,  which  is  this  :  after 
the  wheat  has  come  up,  the  blades  are  exceedingly  ten- 
der ;  and  by  driving  teams  and  wagons  over  the  grow- 
ing plants  to  remove  the  grain  and  the  stalks,  and  by 
the  bruising  and  crushing  of  the  leaves  by  the  feet  of 
laborers,  when  husking,  the  growing  wheat  is  materially 
injured,  so  that  the  yield  will  be  several  bushels  of  grain 


208  THE    WHEAT   CULTTJKIST. 

less,  per  acre,  than  if  the  crop  of  corn  had  been  removed 
before  the  seed  was  put  it. 

Some  farmers  contend  that  driving  over  growing 
wheat  and  treading  the  tops  down  in  autumn,  does 
not  injure  the  growth  of  the  plants.  I  will  not  occupy 
space,  in  these  pages,  to  argue  the  case,  to  show  that 
the  poaching  of  the  ground  by  the  feet  of  heavy  teams, 
the  crushing  of  the  leaves,  which  are  the  lungs  of  the 
young  plants,  with  the  loaded  wheels,  and  the  break- 
ing of  the  roots  of  the  growing  plants,  all  result  in 
serious  injury  to  the  growing  crop,  for  I  know,  that 
whatever  mutilates  the  growing  plants,  must  have  an 
influence  in  retarding  and  diminishing  the  fructification 
of  the  grain.  The  better  way  is,  to  defer  sowing  winter 
wheat ;  and  after  the  corn  crop  is  removed,  plough  the 
land  in  late  autumn,  arid  sow  spring  wheat  the  next 
season,  instead  of  winter  wheat.  I  am  satisfied  that 
more  grain  can  be  raised  by  sowing  spring  wheat,  than 
to  try  winter  grain,  and  tread  the  tops  half  to  death, 
while  husking  the  corn  and  removing  the  stalks. 

ALDEN'S  THKEE-HOESE  CULTIVATOR. 

This  style  of  cultivator,  which  represents  a  wheel 
cultivator  manufactured  by  Alden  &  Co.,  Auburn, 
N.  Y.,  is  a  strong,  three-horse  implement,  extensively 
used  in  the  wheat-growing  sections  of  New  York,  Ohio, 
and  Canada,  for  preparing  ground  for  both  winter  and 
spring  grain.  It  is  a  very  strong  implement ;  and  not 
very  easily  broken.  The  teeth  consist  of  iron  standards 
bolted  firmly,  and  braced  securely  to  the  sills  of  the 
frame  ;  and  the  cutting  edges  of  the  teeth  are  made  of 
plate  steel,  with  a  cutting  edge  on  each  end.  After  one 


THE   WHEAT    CT7LTUKIST.  209 

end  of  the  plates  is  worn  out,  the  ends  can  be  changed 
by  simply  taking  out  a  small  bolt,  which  secures  the 
plates  to  the  cast-iron  standards,  and  turning  the  dull 
ends  upward.  This  arrangement  provides  an  econom- 


FIG.  84.— Alden's  Cultivator. 

ical  tooth  for  such  heavy  cultivators.  The  teeth  can  be 
adjusted  to  run  at  any  desired  depth  in  a  few  seconds ; 
and  all  the  teeth  and  the  frame  can  be  elevated  above 
the  ground  several  inches,  for  convenient  transportation. 
This  cultivator  is  employed  extensively  by  grain-grow- 
ing farmers  for  cultivating  stubble  ground  after  harvest, 
for  the  purpose  of  rooting  up  grass  and  young,  noxious 
weeds,  and  covering  the  seeds  of  troublesome  plants, 
so  that  they  will  readily  vegetate,  and  thus  facilitate 
future  extermination.  Besides  this,  the  teeth  can  be 
put  down  so  as  to  run  six  inches  deep,  thus  pulverizing 
the  entire  ground  quite  as  effectually  as  the  work  can 
be  performed  with  a  plough. 


210  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

"With  three  strong  horses,  or  with  a  yoke  of  oxen  and 
a  span  of  horses  attached  to  such  a  cultivator,  which 
cuts  a  through  four  or  five  feet  in  width,  one  man  will 
be  able  to  prepare  a  number  of  acres  in  a  day.  The 
three-horse  cultivator  requires  a  strong  and  heavy  team. 
I  would  advise  a  man  to  be  perfectly  satisfied  that  he 
needs  a  three-horse  cultivator  before  he  cxrders  one. 
But  there  is  no  danger  that  a  two-horse  cultivator  will 
he  too  large  and  heavy. 

How  TO  KAISE  WHEAT  ON  A  POOR  SOIL. 

I  fancy  that  numerous  readers  will  say :  "  Now,  my 
land  is  poor,  the  soil  thin  and  unfertile ;  how  may  I 
raise  a  fair  crop  of  wheat  ? "  Well,  you  can't  expect 
to  do  it  in  one  year,  nor  in  two  seasons.  In  order  to 
bring  poor  land  into  the  proper  condition  to  give  us 
good  crops  of  wheat,  we  must  adopt  a  better  system  of 
culture.  The  land  must  be  worked  to  a  greater  depth, 
be  more  thoroughly  pulverized,  and  have  suitable  fer- 
.tilizing  material  liberally  applied.  Where  necessary, 
the  surface  must  be  underdrained  to  the  better  warming, 
draining,  and  aerification  of  the  soil.  When  we  ac- 
complish this,  we  shall  find  that  as  good  crops  will  be 
realized  as  in  former  days ;  and  those  destructive  insect 
enemies,  which  are  the  dread  of  all  wheat-growers,  will 
be  defeated,  especially  where  we  adopt  a  system  of  ro- 
tation, raising  crops  for  feeding  stock,  and  manuring 
with  Especial  reference  to  this  crop,  and  growing  from 
a  less  area  a  greater  amount  of  grain  or  other  crops. 
We  must  adopt  an  alternation  of  growing  the  cereals 
with  the  leguminous  and  root  crops,  and  feed  them  out, 
applying  the  manure  made  therefrom  to  the  soil.  Such 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  211 

crops  should  be  raised  for  feeding  as  will  furnish  the 
elements  for  the  richest  manure,  such  manures  being 
found  the  most  economical  for  application  to  the  soil. 
It  will  scarcely  be  necessary  to  say  that  wheat  may 
be  grown  on  a  variety  of  soils,  as  there  exists  a  great 
diversity  over  the  region  in  which  it  is  a  leading 
crop. 

Farmers  all  over  New  England  may  just  as  well  raise 
then*  own  wheat  as  to  purchase  their  flour  at  such  an 
extortionate  price ;  and  often  be  so  scandalously  imposed 
on  by  those  who  sell  a  poor  article  for  a  large  price. 
The  whole  system  of  wheat  growing  may  all  be  summed 
up  in  a  few  words,  namely :  Cultivate  well,  and  manure 
'bountifully.  Usually  the  best  preparation  of  the  land 
for  wheat,  is  a  dressing  of  rich,  well  rotted,  or  com- 
posted, barn-yard  manure.  Unrotted  manure  tends  to 
produce  a  heavy  growth  of  straw,  which  will  be  liable 
to  rust,  and  yield  less  grain.  The  best  practice  is  to 
apply  it  late  in  autumn,  simply  harrowing  it  in  after 
the  land  has  been  well  ploughed.  By  spring  it  is  well 
decomposed.  "Where  it  is  desirable  to  apply  the  manure 
in  the  spring,  scrape  the  hog-yard  for  it  with  broad 
hoes,  and  use  heaps  of  fine  manure  previously  collected ; 
and  if  the  soil  be  compact  and  heavy,  add  well-rotted 
chip  manure.  On  soils  in  which  there  is  a  great  amount 
of  vegetable  matter,  never  apply  any  barn-yard  manure, 
unless  it  has  been  thoroughly  composted  or  rotted.  On 
land  where  there  is  usually  a  great  growth  of  straw, 
wood  ashes,  either  leached  or  unleached,  applied  in  lib- 
eral quantities,  will  have  an  excellent  influence  in  pro- 
ducing a  bountiful  crop  of  grain.  After  ten  years  of 
thorough  cultivation  and  manuring,  the  heavy  crops 
of  wheat  will  appear. 


212  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


ROUGH  VERSUS  SMOOTH  WHEAT  FIELDS. 

Many  of  our  best  farmers  have  of  late  been  accus- 
tomed to  contend,  that  the  rougher  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  where  winter  wheat  is  growing,  can  be  left  after 
the  seed  is  put  in,  the  more  advantageous  the  rough 
land  will  be  to  the  growing  plants  in  protecting  them 
from  the  severity  of  the  winter.  The  "  Western  Rural " 
states  that  "  Every  experienced  grower  of  wheat  knows 
that  this  rule  is  more  frequently  disregarded  than  it  is 
observed.  A  moderately  rough  surface  in  the  wheat 
field  has  many  advantages  over  a  smooth  one ;  for  in- 
stance, it  keeps  snow  from  being  blown  away,  and  thus 
affords  protection  to  the  young  plants  from  the  alternate 
thawing  and  freezing  which  is  so  destructive  to  their 
vitality.  In  spring,  after  the  snow  has  disappeared,  the 
rough  surface  affords  shelter  to  the  plants  from  the  cold 
winds  which  prevail  during  the  early  part  of  that  sea- 
son. In  every  wheat  field  may  be  seen  in  spring,  plants 
growing  in  little  hollows,  sheltered  by  lumps  or  banks 
from  the  cold  wind,  but  enjoying  the  benefit  of  the  sun's 
rays.  The  difference  between  the  growth  of  these  plants 
and  others  which  have  not  the  benefit  of  shelter,  is  re- 
markable. Smooth,  level  surfaces  are  liable  to  become 
a  mass  of  soft  mud,  when  the  spring  thaws  take  the  frost 
out  of  the  ground,  and  much  wheat  on  smooth  surfaces 
is  heaved  out  by  the  sudden  change  from  frosty  to  mild 
weather.  It  need  scarcely  be  stated  that  a  surface  may 
be  too  rough  and  lumpy,  as  well  as  too  smooth  and 
level.  A  mean  between  the  extremes  of  roughness  and 
smoothness  is  the  best  state  of  the  soil  for  the  wheat 
crop."  A  proper  preparation  of  the  soil  will  be  found 
more  satisfactory  than  a  rough  surface. 


THE  WHEAT  CULTURIST.  213 

GROWING  WINTER  WHEAT  ON  CLOVER  SOD. 

Different  management  is  required  to  raise  winter 
wheat  on  red  clover  sod,  than  is  necessary  for  spring 
wheat.  There  is  one  great  error  to  be  avoided  in  pre- 
paring the  ground,  which  is,  turning  all  the  mould, 
clover-stalks,  and  vegetable  matter,  eight  or  ten  inches 
below  the  surface.  This  is  the  usual  practice ;  but  it  is 
decidedly  wrong  for  winter  grain.  The  dense  growth 
of  the  clover  has  exerted  a  very  ameliorating  influence 
on  the  surface  of  the  soil,  simply  by  shading  it,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  direct  fertilization  by  means  of  its  large 
roots  and  decayed  straw.  This  nicely  pulverized  soil 
at  the  very  surface,  and  all  the  vegetable  matter  af- 
forded by  the  decay  of  the  clover,  needs  to  be  kept  near 
the  surface  of  the  ground,  where  it  will  promote  the 
growth  of  the  young  wheat  plants  before  winter.  The 
leading  idea  is  to  perform  the  ploughing  in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  whatever  fertilizers  may  aid  the  growth  of  the 
wheat  before  winter,  whether  it  be  in  the  form  of  de- 
cayed clover,  or  barn-yard  manure,  the  whole  may  be 
within  three  or  four  inches  of  the  surface,  so  that  all  the 
roots  of  the  wheat  will  be  spread  out,  making  a  com- 
plete mat  in  a  shallow  stratum  of  soil. 

The  best  soil  must  be  kept  on  the  surface.  A  thin 
coat  of  well-rotted  barn-yard  manure  should  be  ploughed 
under,  in  connection  with  the  clover-stalks,  not  deeper 
than  just  specified ;  and  the  subsoil  plough  should  fol- 
low the  common  plough,  in  every  furrow.  Twice  in 
each  furrow  is  much  better  than  once.  See  how  to  sub- 
soil, with  illustration  of  a  subsoil  plough  on  a  previous 
page,  and  also  in  second  volume  of  my  Young  Farm- 
er's Manual. 


214  THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

The  "  Cultivator  and  Country  Gentleman  "  says  : 

"  Sowing  wheat  on  a  good  clean  clover  lea  is  undoubt- 
edly the  best  course  to  pursue,  as  nearly  all  the  benefits 
of  a  clover  crop  for  the  season,  except  for  growing  seed, 
or  for  fall  feed,  may  be  had  before  it  is  taken  for  wheat. 
The  best  piece  of  wheat  in  this  section  is  on  a  clover 
sod  turned  over  and  sown  within  ten  days  after  plough- 
ing. But  farmers  will  not  generally  have  such  a  clover 
sod  to  spare,  until  they  come  into  the  practice  of  seed- 
ing to  clover  with  spring  crops,  instead  of  ploughing 
under  the  stubble  and  sowing  wheat." 

Joseph  Harris,  Editor  of  the  "  Genesee  Farmer," 
Rochester,  New  York,  writes  in  relation  to  raising  wheat 
on  clover  sod,  that : 

"  In  England,  wheat  is  generally  sown  on  a  one  or 
two  year  old  clover  sod,  the  land  being  ploughed  imme- 
diately before  sowing.  As  a  general  rule,  this  practice 
does  not  succeed  here,  because,  for  one  reason,  we  sow  a 
month  earlier  than  they  do  in  England,  and  a  clover 
field  ploughed  here  the  last  of  August  is  generally  so 
dry  that  the  seed  wheat  does  not  germinate  evenly ;  and 
it  is  found,  too,  that  the  wheat  is  overrun  with  weeds 
and  grass  the  next  season.  I  think,  however,  if  our 
land  were  cleaned  the  way  it  should  be  before  it  is 
seeded  to  clover,  and  eaten  down  by  sheep  during  the 
summer,  wheat  might  be  raised  here  with  one  plough- 
ing, as  in  England,  especially  if  we  used  a  little  Peru- 
vian guano  at  the  time  of  sowing.  In  Western  New 
York,  manure  is  seldom  applied  directly  to  wheat ;  some 
say  it  is  injurious.  But  I  apprehend  that,  on  most 
farms,  the  wheat  would  be  very  grateful  for  a  little  good, 
well-rotted  manure,  either  ploughed  in  or  spread  on  the 
surface  just  before  sowing.  Wheat  needs  something  to 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  215 

give  it  a  good  start  in  the  fall,  and  a  little  well-rotted 
manure,  not  ploughed  in  deep,  would  be  very  accepta- 
ble. A  dressing  of  Peruvian  guano,  say  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  to  three  hundred  pounds  to  the  acre, 
would  perhaps  be  better  still.  It  will  pay  if  we  get  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  bushel  for  wheat.  At  one  dol- 
lar per  bushel  the  profits  from  the  use  of  guano  will  be 
very  slight,  and  may  be  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
ledger. 

"  Gypsum,  or  sulphate  of  lime,  seldom  does  any  good 
on  wheat  in  Western  New  York,  although  it  has  a  very 
good  effect  on  clover,  and  sometimes  on  peas.  Some 
good  farmers  sow  a  bushel  of  plaster  (gypsum)  per  acre, 
on  the  wheat  in  the  spring ;  but  it  is  done,  not  to  ben- 
efit the  wheat,  but  for  its  effect  on  the  clover  sown  with 
the  wheat." 


PLOUGHING  IN  CLOVER  FOR  WHEAT. 

Clover  is  an  excellent  crop  to  precede  wheat.  The 
heaviest  crops  of  wheat  I  ever  succeeded  in  raising,  were 
sown  on  clover  sward.  In  ploughing  under  clover  I  prefer 
waiting  until  it  has  perfectly  matured.  Many  prefer 
ploughing  when  it  is  in  full  bloom,  but  this  does  not 
coincide  with  my  experience.  It  is  true  that  there  is 
apparently  a  greater  amount  of  vegetable  matter  upon 
the  ground  at  the  time  of  flowering,  but  it  is  too  sappy, 
and  disappears  very  soon  after  being  turned  under,  in 
consequence  of  a  too  rapid  fermentation  taking  place. 

The  objection  may  be  raised  to  ploughing  down  a 
crop  of  clover,  that  it  is  an  expensive  mode  of  manuring ; 
but  this,  I  think,  is  incorrect ;  for  the  expense  should 
not  be  counted  at  a  higher  figure  than  the  interest  on 


216  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

the  cost  of  the  land,  with  the  value  of  the  clover  seed 
added ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  manure  as  cheaply  and 
at  the  same  time  as  effectually  in  any  other  manner. 

Thaer,  in  his  work  on  the  Principles  of  Agriculture, 
after  enumerating  a  number  of  crops  suitable  to  be 
grown  before  wheat,  concludes  by  saying,  "  Lastly,  the 
best  way  of  obtaining  good  crops  of  wheat,  is  to  sow  the 
grain  on  broken-up  clover  land ; "  and  he  further  recom- 
mends that  the  clover  should  be  ploughed  a  month  pre- 
vious to  sowing  the  wheat.  The  recommendation  coin- 
cides with  the  practice  of  many  of  the  best  farmers  in 
England,  who  prefer  sowing  wheat  on  a  stale  furrow, 
under  the  impression  that  land  which  has  become  some- 
what compact  in  consequence  of  having  had  time  to  settle, 
is  more  congenial  to  the  growth  of  wheat,  than  that  which 
has  been  recently  ploughed.  It  is  also  thought  important 
not  to  have  the  ground  too  finely  pulverized,  as  the  grain 
is  supposed  to  stand  the  winter  better  when  the  land  is 
somewhat  cloddy  on  the  surface.  This  is  also  the  opinion 
of  many  of  the  most  successful  wheat-growers  in  the  in- 
terior of  this  State,  and  it  also  coincides  with  my  own 
experience.  The  reason  for  preferring  a  cloddy  surface 
is,  that  it  does  not  so  readily  form  a  crust  after  showers, 
and  the  clods,  as  they  crumble  to  pieces  during  the 
winter  and  spring,  supply  fresh,  mellow  earth  to  the 
roots  of  the  plants. — J.  Harris. 

MANURING  THE  SURFACE  FOR  WINTER  WHEVT, 

In  preference  to  mingling  the  manure  thoroughly  with 
the  soil,  as  deep  as  it  is  ploughed.  By  ploughing  the  soil 
to  a  good  depth  once,  and  by  working  only  a  few  inches 
in  depth  of  the  surface — rendering  it  fine  and  mellow — 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  217 

and  by  spreading  finely  pulverized  compost  on  the  sur- 
face, and  simply  harrowing  it  in  about  the  time  the 
grain  is  sowed  or  drilled  in,  the  roots,  for  the  most  part, 
will  strike  out  horizontally,  or  nearly  so,  and  will  be- 
come so  thoroughly  interwoven  with  each  other  near  the 
surface,  that  they  are  not  drawn  out  at  the  surface,  as 
they  are  when  they  strike  down  nearly  vertically ;  but 
the  entire  soil  rises  and  settles  back  in  the  same  manner 
as  sod  ground  does,  without  heaving  out  the  plants. 

I  have  made  particular  inquiry  of  those  farmers  who 
have  adopted  the  practice  of  manuring  on  the  surface, 
in  every  locality  where  I  have  travelled  during  the  past 
season,  and  I  have  found  that  in  most  instances  they  are 
satisfied  that  winter  grain  will  not  suffer  so  much  injury 
from  freezing  and  thawing,  when  the  manure  is  well 
rotted  and  spread  thin  on  the  surface,  and  harrowed  in 
about  the  time  when  the  grain  is  put  in,  as  it  will  if  the 
manure  is  ploughed  under. 

Growing  wheat  on  clover  lay  is  practiced  in  many  in- 
stances. When  the  clover  is  in  full  bloom  it  is  turned 
under  with  the  furrow  about  six  or  seven  inches  in  depth, 
during  the  latter  part  of  July ;  and  if  the  clover  is  the 
large  kind,  which  is  considered  preferable,  it  is  not 
ploughed  in  until  the  former  part  of  August.  Of  course, 
circumstances  will  determine  the  most  proper  time  for 
ploughing  it  under.  If  the  clover  is  pastured  for  several 
weeks  in  the  spring,  it  will  not  have  attained  its  full 
growth  until  after  the  middle  of  summer  has  passed. 

If  the  ploughman  be  expert,  and  can  turn  a  well  pro- 
portioned furrow,  and  make  his  work  uniform,  one 
ploughing  for  a  clover  sod  is  sufficient.  But  it  should  be 
done  one  month  before  sowing,  to  impart  to  the  surface 
a  suitable  mellow  condition  for  the  seed,  and  also  that 

10 


2T8  THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

portions  of  the  sod  may  break  up  and  remain  on  the  sur- 
face, by  the  action  of  the  seed  harrows,  thus  securing  the 
same  object  sought  by  the  second  ploughing. 

4. 

RAISING  WHEAT  ON  MUCKY  SOILS. 

In  many  places,  where  a  black,  mucky  soil,  several 
inches  deep,  rests  on  a  heavy  subsoil,  by  turning  up  two 
or  three  inches  of  the  latter  in  autumn,  and  mingling  it 
thoroughly  with  the  soil,  draining  if  necessary,  and  ma- 
nuring, a  very  good  wheat  soil  may  be  formed  in  a  few 
years.  Where  the  muck  is  so  deep  that  the  clayey  sub- 
soil cannot  be  reached  with  a  plough,  and  clay  can  be 
obtained  within  a  distance  of  half  a  mile,  it  will  pay  to 
apply  eighty  or  a  hundred  loads  per  acre.  The  best 
time  to  spread  it  is  late  in  autumn,  or  in  winter,  that  it 
may  be  acted  upon  by  rains  and  frosts.  Still,  if  applied 
in  the  spring,  and  ploughed  in,  the  effect  will  be  good 
on  the  crop  the  same  year.  Portions  of  fields  frequently 
are  very  heavy,  while  other  portions  are  composed,  for 
.the  most  part,  of  vegetable  mould.  The  practice  of  the 
writer  has  been  to  haul  mucky  soil  and  spread  it  on  the 
heavy  clay ;  and  in  all  cases,  the  application  has  pro- 
duced an  equal,  or  better  effect  for  wheat,  than  a  liberal 
application  of  good  barn-yard  manure.  As  there  is  a 
great  difference  in  muck,  this  might  not  always  be  the 
case.  Compact,  heavy  soils  contain  a  large  amount  of 
wheat-producing  material ;  but  they  need  to  be  made 
light  and  porous,  so  that  the  roots  of  the  wheat  plants 
can  permeate  the  entire  soil  as  deeply  as  it  has  been 
pulverized. 

On  some  kinds  of  soil,  a  dressing  of  muck  will  exert  a 
marvellous  influence  in  producing  a  heavy  crop.  Yet, 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  219 

on  some  kinds  of  land,  it  will  not  pay  to  cart  muck  for- 
ty rods.  Experiments  must  be  made,  to  determine 
when  muck  will  operate  as  a  valuable  fertilizer,  and  when 
it  will  not. 

The  very  act  of  exposure  of  this  swamp  muck,  has 
caused  an  evolution  of  carbonic  acid  gas :  that  decom- 
poses the  silicates  of  potash  in  the  sand ;  the  potash  con- 
verts the  insoluble  into  soluble  manure,  and  lo !  a  crop. 
The  growing  crop  adds  its  power  to  the  geine.  If  all  the 
long  series  of  experiments  under  Yon  Yoght,  in  Ger: 
many,  are  to  be  believed,  confirmed  as  they  are  by  re- 
peated trials  by  our  own  agriculturists,  it  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  that  every  inch  of  every  small  knoll,  on  every 
farm,  may  be  changed  into  a  soil  in  thirteen  years,  of 
half  the  number  of  inches  of  good  mould. 

MANURING  SANDY  SOILS  FOR  WHEAT. 

In  the  summer  of  1867, 1  was  exploring  certain  parts 
of  South  Jersey,  at  Weymouth ;  and  I  found  on  the 
farm  of  Mr.  S.  Col  well,  that  excellent  crops  of  wheat 
had  been  growing  on  light,  sandy  loam  soils,  where  a 
man  could  paw  a  hole  a  foot  deep  with  the  heel  of  his 
boot,  with  little  difficulty.  Mr.  Colwell  stated  that 
his  system  of  management  was  as  follows,  in  preparing 
the  ground  for  the  crop  just  alluded  to :  A  liberal  dress- 
ing of  barn-yard  manure  and  muck  was  applied  to  the 
land,  ploughed  in,  and  Indian  corn  planted.  The  next 
season  Indian  corn  was  sowed  for  feeding  domestic 
animals.  In  autumn  the  ground  was  ploughed  and 
winter  wheat  drilled  in.  As  nature  has  made  abundant 
provision  for  the  draining  of  the  cultivable  fields  in  this 
part  of  the  State,  the  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  soil 


220  THE    WHEAT   CULTTJKI8T. 

during  the  winter  months,  does  but  very  little  injury 
to  the  growing  wheat.  On  such  light,  loamy  ground, 
which  never  requires  under-draining,  spring  wheat  can 
be  produced  with  much  more  profit  than  winter  grain, 
if  the.  seed  be  put  in  at  the  very  beginning  of  the  growing 
season.  If  such  light  loam  be  top-dressed  with  clay  not 
more  than  half  an  inch  in  depth,  the  argillaceous  ma- 
terial in  the  dressing  will  impart  a  firmness  to  the  light 
land,  which  is  eminently  essential  for  the  production  of 
a  bountiful  yield  of  this  kind  of  grain.  When  a  dress- 
ing of  clay  is  applied  to  such  loamy  ground,  or  to  a  soil 
where  light,  black  muck  is  the  predominant  character- 
istic, it  can  be  carted  during  the  winter  months,  when 
laborers  and  teams  can  find  but  little  employment.  In 
some  localities  the  clay  can  be  hauled  on  a  sliding 
vehicle  and  spread  on  the  snow.  Should  the  clay  be 

"distributed  in  clods  weighing  eight  or  more  pounds  each, 
two  or  three  frosts  and  showers  of  rain  will  usually  dis- 
solve the  lumps,  so  that,  when  partially  dry,  the  clay 
may  be  spread  evenly  with  shovels,  and  afterward  har- 

'  rowed  into  the  soil,  or  mingled  with  the  surface  soil  by 
a  two-horse  wheel  cultivator,  which  some  wheat-growers 
prefer  to  a  plough  for  preparing  the  ground  for  a  crop 
of  wheat,  after  the  field  has  been  thoroughly  ploughed. 
A  dressing  of  marl,  or  muck,  on  such  land,  in  addition 
to  the  clay,  cannot  fail  to  produce  a  bountiful  yield  of 
wheat,  or  of  almost  any  other  cereal  grain.  Farmers 
who  make  and  apply  large  quantities  of  compost,  such 
as  Mr.  Col  well  is  accustomed  to  prepare  for  his  fields, 
find  that  they  can  grow  excellent  crops  of  wheat,  even 
on  our  lightest  loams.  But  the  fertilizers  applied  to 
light  soils  should  be  rich  in  grain-producing  material, 
and  covered  with  a  cultivator,  rather  than  ploughed  in. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  221 


WHEAT  ON  LIGHT  SANDY  LOAM. 

In  order  to  raise  a  fair  crop  of  wheat  on  sandy  loam 
soils,  it  becomes  necessary  to  exercise  no  little  judgment 
in  preparing  the  soil  in  the  best  manner  for  this  kind  of 
grain.  The  element  lacking  mostly  is  alumina,  which 
is  found  in  the  loam.  In  many  instances,  the  sandy  loam 
is  only  four  to  eight  or  ten  inches  in  depth,  resting  on  a 
deep  stratum  of  excellent  yellow-clay  loam.  By  bring- 
ing up  two  or  three  inches  in  depth  of  this  yellow-clay 
loam,  and  mingling  it  with  the  fine  sandy  loam  on  the 
surface,  a  fine  seed-bed  will  be  prepared  for  wheat. 
Then,  by  adopting  a  rotation  of  crops,  such  as  Indian 
corn  one  season,  oats  or  barley,  potatoes  and  turnips, 
and  red  clover  one  or  two  seasons,  with  a  dressing  of 
rich  sheep  manure,  a  bountiful  crop  of  fine  wheat  can 
be  raised  with  little  difficulty. 

On  certain  fields,  the  sandy  loam  is  sometimes  so  deep 
that  it  will  not  be  practicable  to  reach  the  substratum 
of  clay  loam  with  a  common  plough,  or  even  with  a  sub- 
soil plough.  But  bear  in  mind  the  suggestion,  that  the 
sandy  loam  requires  a  little  clay  to  give  the  soil  solidity 
and  firmness.  The  correct  mode  of  procedure  in  such 
instances,  is,  to  plough  the  sandy  loam  in  late  autumn, 
turn  under  a  coat  of  red  clover  if  convenient,  or  a  thin 
dressing  of  compost,  or  both,  unless  the  soil  is  unusually 
fertile ;  then  when  the  ground  is  frozen,  cart  or  haul  on 
muck  and  clay,  and  spread  it  thin  over  the  entire  field. 
Fifty  two-horse  loads  of  muck,  and  fifty  more  two-horse 
loads  of  pure  clay,  or  heavy  clay  loam  transported  from 
some  distant  clay-bed,  and  spread  evenly  in  the  winter, 
would  make  a  seed-bed  for  wheat  of  fine  tilth,  which 
could  scarcely  fail  to  render  a  light  sandy  loam  eminently 


222  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

productive.  In  the  spring,  let  the  ground  be  thoroughly 
harrowed,  or  scarified  with  a  two-horse  cultivator,  with- 
out ploughing ;  and  wheat  will  grow  heavy  and  stand  up 
remarkably  well.  *. 

An  important  consideration  is  to  be  able  to  cart  the 
clay  and  muck  in  the  winter,  when  teams  and  vehicles 
will  not  pack  the  mellow  seed-bed ;  and  also  when  the 
labors  of  the  field  are  not  urgent.  It  is  seldom  con- 
venient to  perform  this  kind  of  work  during  the  growing 
season.  Besides  this,  one  grand  point  to  be  secured  is, 
the  ameliorating  influence  of  the  freezing  and  thawing 
of  the  clay,  by  which  coarse  clods  are  all  reduced  to  a 
fine  tilth.  "When  teams  and  laborers  have  but  little  to 
do,  time  can  be  very  profitably  employed  in  carting 
earth  to  top-dress  wheat  fields.  The  dressing  of  clay,  or 
clay  loam,  will  render  the  soil  more  productive  for  other 
kinds  of  grain  and  grass,  also  as  well  as  for  wheat. 

SEEDING  WITHOUT  PLOUGHING. 

Light  soils  are  frequently  ploughed  to  their  serious 
injury,  for  a  crop  of  wheat.  My  father  and  his  neigh- 
bors as  well  as  myself,  have  raised  the  most  bountiful 
crops  of  wheat,  that  any  of  us  ever  produced,  on  land 
that  was  simply  harrowed  thoroughly.  We  were  all 
satisfied  that  the  crops  were  much  heavier  than  they 
would  have  been  had  the  ground  been  ploughed.  I 
have  in  mind  numerous  instances,  in  New  Jersey,  in 
which  the  soil  was  a  deep  light  loam,  covered  with  a 
very  thin  mould,  where  all  the  vegetable  matter  was 
turned  six  inches  below  the  surface.  The  result  was, 
that  the  crop  of  grain  was  amazingly  light ;  whereas,  had 
the  ground  simply  been  worked  with  a  wheel  cultivator, 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  223 

or  harrowed  thoroughly,  the  crop  would  have  been  much 
heavier,  with  half  the  labor.  Were  I  to  manage  the 
light,  sandy  loam  soils-  of  the  United  States,  where  the 
surface  soil  and  the  subsoil  are  not  compact,  I  should 
seldom  use  a  plough  in  preparing  the  ground  for  any 
kind  of  crop.  Such  a  cultivator  as  is  illustrated  on 
page  142,  would  be  a  far  more  satisfactory  implement  for 
preparing  the  soil  for  wheat,  or  for  any  other  crop,  than 
a  plough.  The  object  is  to  keep  the  best  soil  at  the 
surface.  With  a  cultivator,  it  can  be  readily  done.  But 
with  a  plough,  the  fertile  mould  is  worked  downward 
farther  and  farther  beneath  the  surface. 

Of  all  soils  to  be  cultivated,  or  to  be  restored,  none 
are  preferable  to  the  sandy  light  soils.  By  their  porous- 
ness, free  access  is  given  to  the  powerful  effects  of  the 
air.  They  are  natural  in  that  state,  to  which  trenching, 
draining,  and  subsoil  ploughing  are  reducing  the  stiifer 
lands  of  England.  Manure  may  as  well  be  thrown  into 
water,  as  on  land  underlaid  by  water.  Drain  this,  and 
no  matter  if  the  upper  soil  be  almost  quicksand,  manure 
will  convert  it  into  fertile,  arable  land.  The  thin  cover- 
ing of  mould,  scarcely  an  inch  in  thickness,  the  product 
of  a  century,  may  be  imitated  by  studying  the  laws  of 
its  formation.  This  is  the  work  of  "  Nature's  apprentice 
hand ; "  man  has  long  been  her  journeyman,  and  now 
guided  by  science,  the  farmer  becomes  the  master  work- 
man, and  may  produce  in  one  year  quite  as  much  as  the 
apprentice  made  in  seven. 

PASTURING  WHEAT,  IN  AUTUMN  OK  WINTER. 

Many  years  ago,  we  used  to  see  it  recommended  in 
agricultural  papers,  "  to  pasture  off  wheat  in  late 


224:  THE    WHEAT    CTJLTUKIST. 

autumn."  .  But  for  more  than  twenty  years  past,  in 
which,  these  observations  and  inquiries  have  been  made 
on  this  subject,  I  have  not  met  «with  a  single  instance 
which  afforded  any  assurance  that  the  practice  tis  at  all 
beneficial.  On  the  contrary,  everything  argues  against 
it.  Vegetable  physiology  is  against  it,  because  the 
leaves  of  plants  are  their  lungs.  Therefore,  if  they  be 
cropped  off,  the  growth  will  be  checked.  And  if  the 
growth  be  checked  in  late  autumn,  the  plants  cannot 
endure  the  severity  of  the  cold  in  winter.  Scientific 
agriculture  is  decidedly  against  it ;  because  every  good 
wheat-grower  knows  how  important  it  is  that  the  young 
wheat  plants  should  become  firmly  rooted  before  winter 
sets  in,  so  that  they  may  not  be  lifted  out  so  readily,  and 
that  they  should  acquire  a  large  growth,  for  the  purpose 
of  mulching  the  soil  in  cold  weather.  The  practice  also 
of  our  best  wheat-growers  has  proved  it  to  be  a  very 
wrong  system  of  management ;  and  no  good  farmer  who 
has  tried  it  once  or  twice,  will  be  induced  to  practise  it 
again. 

.  My  own  experience  has  always  been,  that  the  larger 
the  leaves  of  wheat  are  allowed  to  grow,  the  more  they 
will  mulch  the  ground,  the  firmer  the  plants  will  be 
rooted,  and  the  more  effectually  they  will  resist  the  in- 
fluences of  intense  cold,  and  of  alternate  freezing  and 

£5 

thawing,  not  only  during  the  winter,  but  in  the  spring. 
If  animals  of  any  kind  be  allowed  to  crop  off  the 
growing  plants,  their  teeth  often  sever  the  tender 
stems  close  to  the  ground.  Thus  the  crowns  of  the 
growing  plants  will  be  exposed  to  the  influences  of  the 
weather,  and  in  many  instances  effectually  killed.  Be- 
sides this,  heavy  animals  will  injure  the  roots  of  large 
numbers  of  the  stools,  by  treading  on  the  plants  where 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  225 

the  ground  is  soft.  The  great  injury  done  to  the  plants 
by  the  feet  of  animals  will  often  cause  more  damage  to 
the  wheat  than  the  injury  arising  from  cropping  off  the 
stems  with  their  teeth. 

Pasturing  wheat  is  not  to  be  commended  under 
any  circumstances.  If  there  is  too  large  a  growth  of 
leaves  and  stems,  let  the  seed  be  put  in  later  in  the 
season,  rather  than  to  pasture  the  wheat  with  any  kind 
of  stock. 

MULCHING  WINTER  GKAIN. 

Every  observing  farmer  knows  .that  in  autumn,  or 
winter,  soil  that  is  entirely  bare  will  freeze  up  solid, 
while  that  in  meadows,  or  pasture  fields,  will  not  be 
frozen  at  all.  Now,  why  is  it  so  ?  Why  will  the  beaten 
track  of  the  highway  be  frozen  up  solid  enough  to  bear 
a  loaded  wagon,  while  the  grassy  sides  may  be  ploughed 
or  spaded  ? 

Again :  when  a  portion  of  a  field  is  covered  with  a 
thick  coat  of  grass  or  clover  that  has  not  been  fed  off 
nor  mowed,  why  will  such  soil  remain  unfrozen,  except 
in  very  cold  weather  1  Because  the  coat  of  grass  pre- 
vents the  rapid  radiation  of  heat  from  the  surface  of  the 
earth.  A  soil  that  is  bare,  or  nearly  so,  radiates  heat 
very  rapidly  during  the  cold  nights  of  winter ;  and  it 
will  freeze  much  deeper  than  if  protected  by  some^ 
mulching  material  that  will  check  the  rapid  radiation 
of  heat  from  the  surface. 

Those  farmers  who  have  turned  their  attention  to 
this  subject,  cannot  have  failed  to  notice  how  much 
more  red  clover  is  lifted  out  in  pastures  that  have  been 
fed  off  close  in  late  autumn  than  where  the  surface  is 

10* 


220  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

protected  by  a  good  coat  of  stems  and  leaves.  And  the 
same  is  true  of  winter  wheat.  Wherever  it  has  been 
covered  during  most  of  the  winter  with  snow  it  will 
not  be  lifted  out,  nor  winter-killed  very  much,  if  at  all. 
But,  when  the  seed  was  sowed  late  in  autumn,  and  the 
leaves  have  made  only  a  short  growth,  the  soil  will 
freeze  very  deep  and  the  ground  will  be  many  degrees 
colder  where  the  roots  of  the  wheat  are  than  if  the  sur- 
face were  protected.  Where  there  is  a  thick  coating  of 
the  leaves  of  wheat,  or  straw,  over  the  surface,  the 
plants  will  be  injured  but  little. 

Intense  cold  injures  the  wheat  plants  in  two  ways. 
One  is,  by  lifting  them  out  of  their  bed,  and  severing 
the  roots ;  and  another,  by  severe  chilling,  just  as  the 
buds  of  peach  trees  are  injured  by  intense  cold.  There- 
fore, the  more  we  can  protect  the  wheat  plants  from 
piercing  winds  and  intense  cold,  the  better  crops  of 
grain  we  may  expect  to  raise.  When  wheat  was  sowed 
so  late  in  the  fall  that  the  leaves  do  not  cover  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground,  it  will  be  an  excellent  protection  to 
spread  straw  over  the  entire  field,  as  soon  as  the  seed  is 
put  in  the  ground,  and  let  the  wheat  plants  come  up 
through  the  straw.  But  great  care  must  be  exercised 
in  spreading  it,  lest  it  be  applied  so  thick  as  to  smother 
the  plants.  A  covering  half  an  inch  thick,  where  the 
ground  is  not  excessively  wet,  will  be  found  an  excel- 
lent protection  on  those  fields  that  are  not  shielded  from 
the  cold  winds  by  a  forest,  belt  of  trees,  or  an  elevation 
of  the  ground.  But,  a  coat  of  straw  will  not  prevent 
wheat  being  lifted  out  by  the  frost  011  wet  ground.  If 
the  straw  were  worked  into  manure,  by  fat  sheep  or  fat 
cattle,  and  covered  with  a  cultivator,  the  effect  would 
be  more  satisfactory. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  227 


SALT  FOK  WHEAT. 

Although  my  own  experience  is  not  in  favor  of  the 
application  of  salt  to  growing  wheat,  or  to  the  soil 
where  wheat  was  sowed,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that,  on 
some  kinds  of  soil,  a  dressing  of  salt  has  been,  and  may 
be  again,  of  great  value  to  the  growing  crop.  Yet,  as 
a  general  rule,  I  think  salt  will  exert  such  a  trivial  in- 
fluence on  the  productiveness  of  the  land,  that  the  small 
increase  will  not  defray  the  expense  of  purchasing  and 
sowing  four  to-  eight  bushels  of  salt  per  acre.  The  only 
reliable  way  to  satisfy  any  one  on  this  point  is  by  exper- 
iment. If  alternate  strips  be  dressed  with  salt ;  and 
the  straw  keeps  erect  better,  or  the  yield  of  grain  should 
prove  to  be  heavier  than  where  no  salt  is  applied,  no 
more  reliable  proof  will  be  required,  to  establish  the 
value  of  salt  as  a  fertilizer. 

Many  farmers  will  insist  that  a  dressing  of  salt  will 
exterminate,  or  prevent  the  ravages  of  the  wire-worm. 
But  I  do  not  believe  that  one  hundred  bushels  of  salt 
on  an  acre  will  have  the  least  influence  in  repelling 
wire-worms,  cut-worms,  or  any  other  worms,  as  the  ex- 
ceedingly small  quanity  that  would  come  in  contact  witli 
the  whereabouts  of  such  worms,  would  not  destroy  vege- 
tation of  any  kind. 

J.  J.  Mechi  states  that  he  knew  a  farmer  in  North- 
amptonshire, whose  wheat  crops  could  scarcely  ever  be 
kept  from  lodging,  until  he  sowed  a  liberal  dressing  of 
salt  in  his  fields.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  salt  the 
manure  in  his  yards.  He  says  it  is  a  most  singular  fact, 
that  while  salt  tends  to  preserve  animal  substances,  it 
will  decompose  vegetable  matter  quite  rapidly. 

Every  farmer  must  test  the  efficacy  of  salt  on  his  own 


228  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

soil,  if  lie  would  learn  its  value ;  for  salt  has  been  em- 
ployed so  extensively  as  a  fertilizer,  with  no  apparent 
effect,  that  it  is  useless  to  recommend  it,  unless  a  farmer 
is  satisfied  that  an  application  of  it  will  pay.  We 
know  a  dressing  of  manure  will  pay.  Now  if  a  farmer 
has  such  assurance  that  salt  sowed  on  land  will  pay,  I 
recommend  a  liberal  dressing  of  salt  on  such  land. 

CHARCOAL  DUST  AS  A  FERTILIZER. 

Charcoal  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  pure  carbon ; 
and  when  small  fragments  are  exposed  to  the  influences 
of  the  weather,  they  undergo  very  little  change  during 
a  long  term  of  years.  Still  the  roots  of  growing  plants 
will  lay  hold  of  the  small  pieces  of  charcoal,  and  appro- 
priate the  substance  contained  in  the  coal  to  the  growth 
and  development  of  the  stems,  leaves,  and  seeds  of  grain, 
fruit,  and  vegetables. 

Experienced  chemists  assure  us,  charcoal,  and  particu- 
larly charcoal  dust,  has  the  power  of  attracting  and 
fixing  large  quantities  of  ammonia,  a  substance  which 
enters  largely  into  the  formation  of  useful  plants,  and 
of  retaining  this  fertilizing  material  when  buried  in  the 
soil,  until  the  fine  fibres  of  the  roots  of  growing  plants 
require  it  for  promoting  their  growth.  Charcoal  has  the 
power  of  attracting  and  retaining  other  gaseous  substan- 
ces besides  ammonia,  which  are  highly  beneficial  to 
growing  wheat  plants,  as  well  as  grass,  vines,  trees,  and 
shrubs. 

Every  observing  farmer  who  has  been  accustomed  to 
raise  wheat  cannot  have  failed  to  notice  the  luxuriant 
growth  of  cereal  grain  round  about  the  places  where 
charcoal  has  been  burned,  even  more  than  thirty  or  forty 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  229 

years  ago.  The  growing  stems  of  wheat  that  are  pro- 
duced on  such  old  charcoal-beds  are  seldom  affected 
with  rust ;  and  besides  this,  the  straw  is  always  much 
stiifer  than  that  which  grows  where  there  is  not  a  dress- 
ing of  charcoal.  Before  charcoal  can  promote  the  growth 
of  plants  of  any  kind,  the  particles  must  be  thoroughly 
decomposed,  and  reduced  to  a  liquid  condition.  For  this 
reason,  previous  to  the  application  of  charcoal  dust  as  a 
fertilizer  to  any  kind  of  soil,  the  coal  should  be  run 
through  a  mill  that  will  reduce  the  small  pieces  to  fine 
powder.  And  even  when  charcoal  is  thus  finely  com- 
minuted by  some  mechanical  means,  the  action  of  the 
fertilizing  matter  on  vegetation  will  be  very  slow. 

It  is  said  that  charcoal  possesses  the  power  of  ab- 
sorbing ninety  times  its  own  weight  of  ammoniacal 
gases.  This  fact  suggests  that  charcoal  dust,  which 
may  be  procured  in  large  quantities,  at  simply  the  ex- 
pense of  carting,  in  and  around  many  of  our  populous 
cities,  should  be  scattered  in  the  stables  of  domestic 
animals,  after  having  been  ground  very  fine,  where  it 
"will  absorb  large  quantities  of  the  choicest  fertilizing 
material,  which,  if  mingled  with  the  soil,  would  impart 
a  rich  store  of  pabulum  to  the  roots  of  growing  crops. 
But  whether  a  farmer  would  be  warranted  in  purchas- 
ing charcoal,  grinding  it  to  powder,  scattering  it  in  his 
stables,  and  applying  it  the  soil,  is  a  question  that  can  be 
decided  satisfactorily,  only  by  wrell-conducted  experi- 
ments. The  probability,  however,  is  that  it  would  not 
pay,  for  the  reason  that  the  decomposition  of  the  frag- 
ments of  the  coal  would  be  so  exceedingly  slow,  from 
year  to  year,  that  the  beneficial  effect  would  not  be  a  fair 
equivalent  for  the  expense  incurred.  Where  a  farmer 
can  procure  charcoal  dust  for  the  carting,  he  can  well 


230  THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

afford  to  haul  it  two  or  more  miles  for  the  purpose  of 
applying  it  to  certain  kinds  of  soil. 

Where  the  soil  is  deep,  mellow,  vegetable,  black  loam, 
or  muck,  it  would  not  pay  to  cart  charcoal  dust^to  apply 
as  a  fertilizer,  because  there  is  an  abundance  of  carbon- 
aceous material  already  in  the  soil.  But  where  the  soil 
consists  chiefly  of  a  sandy  loam,  a  gravelly  loam,  or  is  a 
heavy  soil  of  any  character,  it  will  pay  to  cart  charcoal 
dust  to  mingle  with  stable  manure,  to  be  applied  to  the 
soil  where  cereal  grain,  in  particular,  or  grass,  or  any 
other  crops,  are  to  be  produced. 

As  to  the  proper  quantity  of  charcoal  dust  to  be  ap- 
plied to  an  acre,  there  is  no  rule  for  determining  how 
much  may  be  used  with  profit.  There  is  no  danger, 
however,  of  applying  too  much.  The  larger  the  quan- 
tity the  better.  On  those  soils  where  charcoal  dust  will 
not  be  of  any  advantage  to  growing  crops,  a  bountiful 
dressing  will  exert  no  injurious  influence.  The  larger 
the  quantity  spread  around  all  kinds  of  fruit  trees,  the 
smoother  and  fairer  the  fruit  will  be. 

In  many  fields  where  cereal  grain  is  grown,  the  old' 
coal-pit  beds  should  be  carted  and  spread  on  those  parts 
of  the  field  that  are  not  rich  in  carbonaceous  material. 
Charcoal  dust,  finely  pulverized,  is  an  excellent  material 
to  mingle  with  the  soil  where  fruit  trees  of  any  kind  are 
being  transplanted.  From  five  to  ten  bushels  per  tree 
would  be  a  liberal  dressing.  For  an  immediate  fertiliz- 
ing effect  on  the  growing  crops  of  almost  any  kind  of 
soil,  it  would  be  more  satisfactory  to  reduce  the  coal  to 
ashes,  and  sow  what  remains,  broadcast  over  the  field, 
while  plants  of  grain  or  grass  are  young  and  tender, 
as  wood  ashes  are  an  excellent  material  for  grain  and 
grass,  trees  and  flowers,  fruits  and  vegetables  of  all  kinds. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  231 

R.  Ranson,  Aslitabula  County,  Ohio,  writes,  touching 
pulverized  charcoal,  as  follows  :  "  I  tried  another  experi- 
ment in  1860.  My  lands  are  coarse  or  loose  gravel  of 
rather  poor  quality.  I  sowed  an  acre  of  winter  wheat 
(the  blue-stem)  preparing  my  ground  as  follows  : 

"  The  field  was  sown  with  barley  in  the  spring  pre- 
vious ;  yield  small  (eighteen  bushels  per  acre).  I  turned  in 
the  stubble  the  last  week  in  August,  harrowed  it  over,  then 
took  about  eighteen  bushels  charcoal  crushed  fine,  and 
top-dressed  a  strip  through  the  middle  of  the  acre  over 
about  one-third  of  its  length ;  I  then  sowed  on  my 
wheat  broadcast  and  harrowed  it  over  twice.  The 
result  was,  the  heads  when  ripe  were  at  least  twice  as 
long  as  where  no  coal  was  put  on.  I  harvested  all 
together ;  the  yield  was  forty-three  bushels.  I  think 
by  applying  about  fifty  bushels  of  coal  to  the  acre 
as  a  top-dressing,  made  fine  by  grinding  in  a  common 
bark  mill,  it  would  increase  the  yield  at  least  four  hun- 
dred per  cent.,  if  the  soil  is  poor. 

"He  further  states  he  used  burned  clay  and  ashes 
in  the  fall  of  1860,  at  the  rate  of  about  one  hundred 
bushels  of  burned  clay,  taken  from  a  fallow  where  tim- 
ber had  been  uprooted  several  years  by  heavy  winds. 
The  soil  on  which  the  timber  grew  was  burned  together 
with  the  old  roots  and  clay  entwined,  and  perhaps  some 
muck ;  the  whole,  ashes,  clay  and  muck,  after  being 
burned  as  above,  were  hauled  off  in  a  wagon  and  put 
upon  the  wheat  field  as  a  top-dressing,  and  harrowed  in 
with  the  wheat.  The  land  was  poor  quality  of  gravel ; 
the  yield  was  about  five  hundred  per  cent,  over  the  re- 
mainder of  the  field  where  no  clay  was  put.  I  think 
there  is  no  fertilizer  ahead  of  this  as  a  top-dresser."  See 
Mixing  Soils,  second  volume  of  Young  Farmer's  Manual. 


232 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


HOLBKOOK'S  DEEP-TILLER  PLOUGH. 

The  figure  of  a  plough  shown  in  this  place,  represents 
a  "  deep-tiller  "  plough,  which  has  been  recently  invented 
by  Governor  Holbrook,  of  Massachusetts,  and  manufac- 
tured by  F.  F.  Holbrook,  Boston.  The  form  of  the  mold- 
board  is  such  as  is  required  for  deep  ploughing.  When 


FIG.  35.— Holbrook's  Stubble  Plough. 

ploughing  stubble,  farmers  frequently  desire  to  plough 
narrow  furrows,  ten  to  twelve  inches  deep.  With  most 
of  the  ploughs,  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  plough  more 
than  eight  inches  in  depth ;  and  scores  of  ploughs  are 
not  properly  constructed  for  ploughing  over  five  or  six 
inches  in  depth. 

I  have  devoted  a  vast  deal  of  thought  to  the  proper 
construction  of  the  mold-boards  of  ploughs,  both  for 
deep  and  for  shallow  ploughing ;  and  it  affords  me  satis- 
faction to  record  in  this  place,  a  tribute  of  superior 
merit  to  this  plough,  which  is  exactly  the  implement 
required  in  numerous  sections  of  the  country,  where  it 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  233 

is  desirable  to  bring  up  a  little  of  the  rich,  clay  loam  to 
the  surface,  to  be  mingled  with  the  light  soil  or  vegetable 
mould.  In  New  Jersey,  as  well  as  in  other  States,  the 
soil,  in  many  sections  of  the  country,  consists  of  a  light, 
sandy  loam,  resting  on  a  fertile,  clay-loam  subsoil, 
about  ten  or  twelve  inches  below  the  surface.  For 
almost  all  kinds  of  crops,  especially  for  wheat  and 
other  cereal  grain,  it  is  important  to  turn  up  a  few 
inches  in  depth  of  this  subsoil.  With  a  common  plough 
it  is  difficult  to  do  it.  But  with  one  of  Governor 
Holbrook's  deep-tiller  ploughs,  one  span  of  horses  will 
open  a  furrow  twelve  inches  deep,  and  continue  to 
plough  at  that  depth,  provided  the  plough  is  adjusted 
to  cut  only  five  or  six  inches  wide.  Read  the  chapter 
on  Ploughs  and  Ploughing,  in  both  volumes  of  my 
Young  Farmer's  Manual. 

HOLBROOK'S  EIGHT  AND  LEFT  PLOUGH. 

The  accompanying  illustration  of  a  plough  represents 
a  style  of  ploughs  manufactured  by  F.  F.  Holbrook, 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  which  are  gaining  favor  among 
farmers,  on  account  of  their  convenience  in  enabling  a 
ploughman  to  commence  on  one  side  of  a  field,  and 
plough  back  and  forth,  until  the  field  is  finished.  By  this 
manner  of  ploughing,  the  entire  field  can  be  finished 
without  a  dead  furrow.  Besides  this,  the  surface  of  the 
land  is  kept  level,  which  is  not  the  case  when  ground 
is  ploughed  in  lands.  Some  farmers  prefer  this  style  of 
ploughs  for  another  reason,  which  is  this  :  when  plough- 
ing land  for  any  kind  of  grain  that  is  to  be  drilled  in, 
they  can  hitch  the  team  to  the  drill  twice,  or  more,  in 
a  day ;  and  put  in  the  grain  as  far  as  the  ploughing  is 


234 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTURIST. 


completed,  thus  finishing  the  operation  of  seeding  as 
fast  as  the  ploughing  progresses,  which  is  often  desira- 
ble. Besides  this,  when  grain  is  deposited  in  soil  just 
ploughed,  or  recently  pulverized,  the  seed  will^  usually 


FIG.  36.— Holbrook's  Eight  and  Left  Plough. 

germinate  sooner  than  when  it  is  sowed  in  ground  that 
has  been  ploughed  several  days,  or  so  long  a  time  that 
the  surface  has  become  somewhat  dry  before  the  seed 
is  put  in  the  soil.  The  right  and  left  plough  is  also  an 
excellent  side-hill  plough.  Mr.  Holbrook  manufactures 
several  other  kinds  of  ploughs,  which  give  excellent 
satisfaction  for  performing  the  operations  for  which  they 
were  particularly  constructed. 


'IHE   WHEAT  CULTURIST.  235 


CHAPTER  III. 

How  TO  SAVE  SEED  WHEAT. 

"Oft  have  I  seen  the  chosen  seeds  deceive, 
And  o'er  degenerate  crops  the  peasant  grieve, 
Save  where  slow  Patience,  o'er  and  o'er  again, 
Culled  yearly,  one  by  one,  the  largest  grain." 

DRYDEN'S  VIRGIL. 

JUDGING  from  the  suggestions  previously  recorded,  in 
regard  to  seed  wheat,  one  would  suppose  that  we  might 
dispense  with  all  details  relating  to  the  manipulations 
of  saving  the  seed.  But  I  consider  the  manipulations 
more  important  than  anything  I  have  recorded,  as  the 
directions  herewith  given  are  an  epitome  of  all  the  rest. 
If  a  farmer  will  follow  the  directions  here  recorded, 
when  securing  his  seed  wheat,  from  year  to  year,  he 
will  feel  so  well  satisfied  with  his  efforts  to  "produce 
a  bountiful  crop  of  fine  grain,  that  he  will  never  suffer 
himself  to  resort  to  the  slip-shod  and  unprofitable  and 
unfarmer-like  manner,  which  prevails  all  over  our  coun- 
try. 

Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  earliness  of  maturity  is 
the  most  important  consideration  in  saving  seed  wheat. 
Of  course,  then,  seed  should  never  be  taken  from  a 
locality  where  the  crops  are  backward  in  regard  to 
maturity. 

It  is  not  only  important  to  select  for  seed,  the  grain 
that  matures  first  on  one's  own  farm,  but  from  those 


236  THE   WHEAT    CULTTTRIST. 

lields  in  any  other  locality  in  the  town  or  county.  My 
farm  was  some  five  or  six  hundred  feet  above  the  level 
of  Cayuga  Lake.  The  wheat  growing  on  those  fields 
near  the  shore  of  the  lake,  usually  ripened  tei\  to  four- 
teen days  earlier  than  the  wheat  on  the  upland.  I  al- 
ways secured  my  seed  from  those  farmers  near  the  shore, 
for  the  first  crop ;  then,  at  the  next  harvest  time,  patches 
of  the  growing  grain,  a  few  rods  square,  on  the  knolls 
and  highest  points  of  the  field,  were  staked  off  on  my 
own  farm  and  allowed  to  stand  until  the  grain  had 
matured  perfectly.  The  grain  that  grew  on  such  ele- 
vated parts  of  the  field,  would  mature  sometimes  a  week 
before  the  grain  growing  on  low  parts  of  the  same  field 
was  fit  to  harvest. 

Such  seed  grain  should  always  be  harvested  by  itself: 
stacked  or  stored  in  the  barn  by  itself;  thrashed  by 
itself;  and  secured  in  a  bin  or  barrels  by  itself.  It  is 
folly  to  attempt  to  grow  a  bountiful  crop  of  wheat  un- 
less all  these  directions  are  followed  out,  year  after  year, 
with  scrupulous  exactness.  When  the  unthrashed  crop 
of  grain  is  stored  in  a  building,  the  sheaves  should  never 
be  put  in  the  bottom  of  the  mow,  unless  unusual  care 
be  exercised  in  removing  the  grain  that  may  be  placed 
above  the  seed  grain,  to  prevent  grain  that  is  not  fit  for 
seed,  from  falling  down  among  the  seed  bundles. 

Another  important  consideration  to  be  kept  in  mind 
is,  to  procure  seed  that  grows  on  high,  dry,  and  rather 
heavy  soil,  rather  than  to  choose  grain  that  was  pro- 
duced on  a  light,  mucky  soil.  Grain  that  grows  on  a 
light,  mucky  soil,  is  seldom  as  light  colored  as  that  which 
was  produced  on  a  fertile  clay  loam.  We  always  find 
the  choicest  and  the  whitest  wheat  where  there  is  a 
liberal  proportion  of  clay  in  the  soil.  In  every  locality, 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  237 

farmers  should  spend  a  part  of  a  day,  at  harvest-time, 
travelling  about  the  country,  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
where  they  can  secure  the  earliest  seed  wheat. 

I  believe  that  farmers,  almost  universally,  pay  little 
or  no  attention  to  the  time  when  seed  ripens.  If  it  is 
only  ripe  and  bright  seed,  perhaps  not  one  farmer  in 
a  thousand  would  even  think,  whether  it  ripened  in 
August,  or  in  November."  We  cannot  expect  that  any 
seed  which  has  come  to  maturity  very  late  in  the  sea- 
son, will  produce  a  crop  as  early  as  the  same  kind  of 
seed  will,  which  ripened  in  August.  By  collecting  and 
planting  those  seeds  that  ripened  very  late  in  the  season, 
we  can  soon  produce  a  variety  that  will  not  ripen  at  all, 
unless  the  season  were  unusually  long  and  favorable. 

For  this  reason,  we  select,  as  far  as  practicable,  those 
ears  of  Indian  corn  for  seed  which  ripen  first ;  and  by 
following  up  this  practice,  from  year  to  year,  we.  pro- 
duce a  kind  of  seed  that  will  mature  in  the  shortest  pos- 
sible period  of  time  ;  while  on  the  contrary,  if  we  select 
those  ears  for  seed  that  came  to  maturity  last,  and  con- 
tinue that  practice  for  a  few  years,  we  shall  have  all 
roasting  ears  in  October,  and  no  sound  corn.  My  expe- 
rience on  this  subject  goes  to  establish  this  position. 

A  correspondent  of  the  "Prairie  Farmer"  wrote  to 
that  paper  thus  :  "  There  is,  perhaps,  no  branch  of  the 
farmer's  business  which  is  conducted  more  hap-hazard 
than  the  selecting  of  seed.  Many  do  not  realize  the  im- 
portance of  selecting  the  best  of  seed.  To  such  I  pro- 
pose to  offer  a  word  of  advice.  All  small  grain  may  be 
classed  together ;  for  what  holds  good  of  wheat  is  also 
true  of  barley,  rye,  or  oats.  I  verily  believe,  that  a 
large  share  of  the  failure  of  wheat,  in  Northern  Illinois, 
is  due  to  the  fact,  that  the  farmer  simply  goes  to  his  bin 


238  THE   WHEAT   CTJLTUKIST. 

and  cleans  over  the  required  number  of  bushels  he  wishes 
to  sow.  Often,  very  often,  this  grain  is  sown  without 
being  cleaned  at  all.  Want  of  time  is  urged  as  an  ex- 
cuse, because  the  ground  is  left  until  it  is  fitte$  for  the 
seed.  If  it  is  a  law  of  nature  that  like  produces  like, 
what  can  be  expected  of  such  a  process  but  a  constant, 
certain  deterioration  ?" 


CHOOSE  THE  HEAVIEST  KERNELS. 

The  heaviest,  cleanest,  most  perfect  berry  should  be 
sown  always,  of  all  small  grain.  One  way  to  obtain 
this  kind  of  seed  is  as  follows :  Clean  your  barn  floor ; 
place  your  grain  in  a  heap  at  the  opposite  door  to  the 
one  at  which  the  current  of  air  enters  ;  then  with  a  small 
hand-scoop  throw  out  your  grain  against  the  wind,  so  as 
to  fall  a  little  short  of  the  other  end  of  your  floor.  Of 
course  the  heaviest  grain  will  be  that  which  flies  fur- 
thest ;  and  this  will  be  clean  also.  If  the  screen  in  your 
fanning-mill  has  meshes  wide  enough  to  admit  of  the 
small  grains  of  wheat  passing  through,  you  may  succeed 
in  cleaning  your  wheat  fit  for  seed,  also  your  rye ;  but 
for  oats  and  barley  this  will  not  be  the  case,  as  the  small 
grain  cannot  pass  through  the  screen. 

On  this  subject  of  selecting  seed  wheat,  a  writer  in 
the  "  Mark  Lane  Express  "  has  said  :  "  The  varieties  of 
wheat  are  now  so  numerous,  that  much  difficulty  arises 
in  making  a  proper  choice.  Whatever  variety  may  be 
chosen,  the  farmer  ought  to  select  the  best  sample  of  it 
that  he  can  meet  with.  I  would  as  soon  use  an  inferior 
ram  to  my  flock,  or  an  inferior  bull  to  my  herd,  as  to 
sow  an  inferior  grain,  be  it  from  whatever  well-known 
stock.  I  have  derived  great  advantage  from  changes 


THE    WHEAT    CTJLTTTEIST.  239 

of  seed,  brought  from  a  considerable  distance  on  every 
side,  to  the  extent  of  hundreds  of  miles.  But,  it  was 
from  seed  on  which  I  could  depend.  My  favorite 
-change  is,  from  a  cold,  chalky,  district  to  a  mild,  loamy 
soil.  In  a  majority  of  cases,  a  change  is  good  on  every 
soil,  and  under  every  variation  of  climate." 

VITALITY  OF  SEED  WHEAT. 

The  old  story  in  relation  to  the  wonderful  vitality  of 
wheat  taken  from  the  coffin  of  an  Egyptian  mummy,  3,000 
years  old,  has  been  reiterated  by  the  press,  until  intelli- 
gent farmers  will  not  give  it  any  kind  of  credence.  It 
is  sheer  folly  to  repeat  such  an  improbability  !  I  do  not 
believe  a  word  of  it.  (See  p.  107,  Egyptian  Wheat.) 
Wheat  was  undoubtedly  taken  from  a  mummy ;  but 
>  there  was  not  a  shadow  of  evidence,  that  the  grain  was 
3,000  years  old.  Indeed,  the  evidence  is  conclusive, 
that  some  shrewd  Arab — as  they  understand  how  eager 
white  and  civilized  people  are  to  obtain  curiosities — put 
the  package  of  wheat  in  the  mummy,  only  a  few  years 
previous,  as  seeds  of  maize,  a  plant  of  recent  origin  and 
known  in  America  before  it  was  ever  seen  in  the  Old 
World,  were  found  in  the  package. 

Scientific  men  in  Europe,  have  made  numerous  ex- 
periments to  test  the  vitality  of  seeds,  all  of  which  tend 
to  show,  that  cereal  grain  will  lose  its  vitality  in  a  few 
successive  years. 

In  the  year  1840  the  British  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Science,  appointed  a  committee  to  investi- 
gate the  length  of  time  during  which  seeds  retain  their 
vitality.  The  committee  consisted  of  Professors  Dan- 
bury,  Henslow,  and  Lindley.  They  made  sixteen  re- 


240 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


ports ;  the  last  being  for  the  year  1857,  at  which  time, 
so  few  seeds  were  found  to  retain  their  vegetative  powers, 
that  it  was  deemed  necessary  to  consider  the  object 
attained.  < 

The  results  of  their  investigation  are  well  known, 
and  are  exceedingly  interesting.  Thus,  they  found  that 
in  their  hands,  the  celebrated  mummy  wheat  which  had 
been  claimed  to  have  come  down  from  the  time  of  the 
Pharaohs,  had  no  such  vitality  as  had  been  claimed  for 
it.  After  a  .few  years,  it  entirely  loses  its  vegetative 
powers.  Some  seeds,  as  lettuce,  become  worthless  after 
a  couple  of  years.  Others,  as  melons,  endure  for  a 
comparatively  long  period.  A  few  of  the  most  interest- 
ing of  these  results  I  give.  They  found  that  the  great- 
est age  at  which  seeds  germinated  are  as  follows,  viz. : 


Maize, 3  yrs. 

Oats, 8    " 

Spring  Wheat,      .     .     .  3    " 

Bye, 3    « 

Barley, 3    " 


Cabbage, 3  yrs.  + 

Hibiscus, 27    " 

Carrot,        8    " 

Beet, 8> 

Lettuce, 3    '' 


Only  two  kinds  (Colutea  and  Coronilla)  vegetated  after 
a  lapse  of  forty-seven  years. 

The  vitality  shown  by  some  seeds  is  wonderful ;  arid 
the  probability  is,  that  certain  kinds  of  seeds  retain 
their  vitality  much  longer  in  one  climate  than  in  ano- 
ther. I  once  sowed  some  timothy  seed,  which  I  raised 
on  my  own  farm,  which  was  six  years  old,  bright  and 
plump  when  it  was  sowed.  But,  not  a  seed  vegetated, 
although  it  was  sowed  on  new  land,  where  the  soil  fa- 
vored the  vegetation  of  every  seed.  I  also  sowed  a  sack 
of  Russian  flaxseed,  which  appeared  bright  and  heavy ; 
but  not  one  single  plant  ever  appeared. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  Ml 

Professor  Lindley  says :  "  There  are  many  cases  on 
record  which  establish  conclusively  that,  under  favor- 
able conditions,  the  vitality  of  seeds  may  be  preserved 
for  indefinite  periods.  '  Not  to  speak  of  the  doubtful 
instances  of  seeds  taken  from  the  Pyramids  having 
germinated,'  melons  have  been  known  to  grow  at  the 
age  of  forty  years  ;  kidney  beans  at  a  hundred ;  sensi- 
tive plant  at  sixty  ;  rye  at  forty ;  and  there  are  now  liv- 
ing in  the  garden  of  the  Horticultural  Society  raspberry 
plants  raised  from  seeds  1,600  or  1,700  years  old. 

"  The  .seeds  of  charlock  buried  in  former  ages  spring 
up  in  railway  cuttings  ;  where  ancient  forests  are  de- 
stroyed, plants  appear  which  had  never  been  seen  before, 
but  whose  seeds  have  been  buried  in  the  ground.  "When 
some  land  was  recovered  from  the  Baltic  Sea,  a  carex 
was  found  upon  it-,  now  unknown  in  that  part  of  Europe. 
M.  Fries,  of  Upsala,  succeeded  in  growing  a  species  of 
Hieracium  from  seeds  which  had  been  in  his  herbarium 
upward  of  fifty  years.  Desmoulins  has  recorded  an 
instance  of  the  opening  of  ancient  tombs,  in  which 
seeds  were  found  ;  and  on  being  planted  they  produced 
species  of  scabiosa  and  heliotropium." 

A  RELIABLE  RULE. 

Seeds  and  grain  often  lose  their  vitality ;  and  we 
cannot  determine  by  the  external  appearance  of  a  seed 
or  kernel  of  grain,  whether  its  vitality  is  gone,  or  not. 
It  is,  therefore,  always  wise  to  keep  on  the  safe  side,  by 
sowing  wheat  that  has  not  been  kept  over  more  than 
one  winter.  Wheat  that  is  sown  in  autumn,  should 
not  be  the  product  of  the  previous  year  ;  but  grain  that 
grew  the  same  season.  Spring  wheat  should  be  the  pro- 

11 


242  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

duct  of  the  previous  year.  Therefore,  when  seed  wheat 
or  seed  rye  is  obtained  from  seed  stores,  or  from  any 
other  source,  if  the  grain  were  not  raised  the  previous 
year,  a  handful  of  the  kernels  should  be  tested,  before 
the  grain  is  sowed  in  the  field,  for  the  purpose  of  deter- 
mining whether  the  seed  will  germinate.  There  is  no 
reliable  rule  concerning  the  vitality  of  any  kind  of  seed 
grain.  In  one  instance,  every  kernel  of  seed  may  vege- 
tate, when  it  is  ten,  or  more  years  old.  On  the  con- 
trary, a  large  proportion  of  seed  only  three  and  four 
years  old,  may,  and  may  not  vegetate. 


LARGE  vs.  SMALL  KERNELS  OF  GRAIN  FOR  SEED. 

"  Yet,  the  success  is  not  for  years  assured, 
Though  chosen  is  the  seed  and  fully  cured, 
Unless  the  peasant,  with  his  annual  pain, 
Eenews  his  choice,  and  culls  the  largest  grain." 

DRYDEN'S  VIRGIL. 

We  perceive  by  the  suggestions  in  the  preceding  coup- 
Jet,  which  was  penned  several  hundred  years  ago,  that 
the  importance  of  choosing  the  largest  kernels  was 
understood  in  those  days,  as  well  as  now.  But,  whether 
the  precept  was  observed  in  selecting  seed,  is  a  question 
involved  in  some  doubt,  as  cultivators  of  the  soil  are 
exceedingly  apt  to  neglect  the  saving  of  all  kinds  of 
seed.  Besides  this,  many  intelligent  farmers  and  gar- 
deners contend  that  it  makes  no  difference  whether  the 
small  kernels  of  the  tip  end  of  an  ear,  or  any  others,  be 
planted ;  and,  to  prove  it,  they  refer  to  experiments  re- 
corded by  C.  L.  Flint,  secretary  of  the  Massachusetts 
Board  of  Agriculture,  in  which  it  is  stated,  that  it  has 
been  proved  by  experiment  that  the  yield  of  Indian  corn 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURI8T.  243 

from  the  kernels  on  the  tip  end  of  the  ears,  was  greater 
than  from  seed  on  the  middle  of  the  ear. 

No  doubt  Mr.  Flint  recorded  the  experiment  in  good 
faith ;  but  I  have  no  confidence  in  the  result  of  it.  I 
do  not  believe  it  was  fairly  conducted.  It  is  contrary  to 
reason,  common  sense,  the  experience  of  good  farmers, 
and  opposed  to  the  established  laws  of  vegetable  physi- 
ology, that  a  small,  ill-formed  kernel  should  produce 
more  and  better  grain  than  would  grow  from  the  best 
ones  on  the  ear.  All  good  farmers,  in  ages  past,  and 
even  at  the  present  day,  have  been  instructed  to  plant 
the  best  kernels — to  propagate  from  the  best  kind  of 
everything — because  '•  like  produces  like,"  as  well  in  the 
vegetable  as  the  animal  kingdom. 

In  our  efforts  to  improve  our  domestic  animals,  we 
always  choose  the  very  best  as  a  breeder — one  that  pos- 
sesses the  most  good  points  of  form,  symmetry,  and  con- 
stitution. By  this  means  our  flocks  and  herds  have  been 
brought  to  their  present  degree  of  perfectibility.  Now, 
let  us  suppose,  for  example,  that  we  are  told  by  a  man, 
who  is  considered  good  authority,  that,  by  selecting  the 
meanest  and  shabbiest-looking  nags  that  can  be  found, 
or  by  breeding  from  the  veriest  scrub  of  a  cow  and 
skalawag  bull,  we  may  obtain  animals  superior  to  any- 
thing that  we  have  ever  raised  !  Every  sensible  man  or 
woman  would  say,  at  once,  that  the  idea  is  a  palpable 
absurdity.  When  we  breed  from  ill-favored  animals,  we 
never  expect  to  get  offspring  superior  to  their  progenitors ; 
because  it  would  be  unnatural  for  an  animal,  or  for  any 
kind  of  seed,  to  impart  to  its  issue  or  product,  excellencies 
which  itself  never  possessed.  If  we  can  raise  more  and 
better  grain  from  the  small,  ill-formed  kernels  on  the 
little  end  of  the  ear,  than  from  the  largest  and  fairest, 


244  THE   WHEAT   CTJLTTJRIST. 

then  we  may  sift  out  all  the  small  grains  of  oats  and 
wheat  for  seed,  instead  of  selecting  the  largest  and 
plumpest  with  so  much  care,  as  good  farmers  consider  to 
be  essential  to  a  large  crop.  ••'*  h 

There  are  many  theories  and  experiments  recorded  and 
promulgated,  by  men  who  ought  to  know  better,  in  re- 
gard to  planting  small,  half-ripe  seed,  or  rearing  animals 
from  inferior  breeders,  all  of  which  tends  to  mislead  be- 
ginners in  agriculture.  Any  old,  superannuated  grand- 
mother, in  her  second  childhood,  knows  better  than  to 
recommend  planting  inferior  seed,  if  we  would  raise  an 
abundant  crop.  Scientific  writers  have  done  an  untold 
amount  of  harm  by  sanctioning  such  palpable  absurdities 
about  the  comparative  excellence  of  good  and  inferior 
seed.  Let  our  young  farmers  not  be  misled  by  the 
teachings  of  scientific  writers,  when  reason  and  common 
sense  both  assure  us,  that  such  teachings  are  erroneous ; 
and,  if  followed  out  to  the  letter,  the  result  will  be  a 
serious  failure  and  a  grievous  disappointment. 

HOW   TO   PRODUCE   A   J^EW   VARIETY   OF    WHEAT. 

The  true  way  to  obtain  a  new  variety  of  wheat  is  to 
go  to  the  field  of  some  excellent  farmer,  who  sustains 
a  fair  reputation  for  raising  superior  wheat,  when  the 
grain  is  ripe,  and  select  one,  two,  or  more  heads  for 
seed.  You  can  select,  if  you  choose,  one  or  two  that 
appear  to  be  quite  unlike  the  great  proportion  of  the 
heads.  The  ultimate  product  of  this  peculiar  head,  or 
heads,  of  grain  will  be  the  new  variety  sought.  If  you 
select  a  few  heads  of  the  best  in  the  field,  the  product 
will  be  only  an  improved  variety  of  grain.  Reject  such 
heads  as  are  not  well  filled  out  with  plump  kernels. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  24:5 

Those  also  that  do  not  have  chaff  of  a  uniform  appear- 
ance should  not  be  selected,  as  chaff  of  different  colors 
and  forms  and  partially  bearded  is  a  certain  indication 
of  a  hybrid  grain.  The  aim  should  be  to  start  with  a 
pure  variety,  if  possible.  Then  prepare  the  ground  by 
thorough  pulverization  and  manuring,  as  for  a  carrot- 
bed,  and  plant  the  seed  about  the  middle  of  September 
in  the  latitude  of  New  York  city.  Make  a  hole  two 
inches  deep  with  one  finger,  or  with  a  wooden  dibble, 
and  one  foot  apart  in  rows  each  way,  with  one  kernel 
in  a  place,  and  cover  the  seed  with  mellow,  rich  soil. 
See  that  fowls  do  not  scratch  up  the  grain,  nor  bite  off 
the  tender  blades  after  they  have  grown  two  or  more 
inches  long.  If  the  ground  is  rich,  every  kernel  will 
produce  a  stem  that  will  tiller  so  extensively  as  to  occu- 
py the  entire  ground  with  large  heads  of  grain.  Next 
season,  and  the  two  following  seasons,  weed  the  wheat, 
and  reject  every  head  that  appears  a  trine  different  from 
all  the  rest  of  the  ears.  In  a  few  years  the  identity  of 
the  variety  will  be  permanently  established,  and  the 
quality  of  the  grain  and  its  productiveness  will  be  so 
greatly  improved  that  one  bushel  of  seed  will  yield  sev- 
eral bushels  more  of  superior  grain  per  acre  than  can 
be  grown  on  the  same  soil  from  ordinary  seed. 

After  a  valuable  variety  of  wheat  has  been  well  estab- 
lished, if  proper  care  be  exercised  in  selecting  the  seed, 
from  year  to  year,  there  is  no  more  danger  that  an  ex- 
cellent variety  will  degenerate,  than  that  the  South 
Down  breed  of  sheep  will  run  out,  when  bred  and 
reared  with  care,  from  year  to  year. 

The  "  North  British  Agriculturist  "  says  on  this  sub- 
ject : 

"  In  every  field  of  grain  there  are  to  be  seen  ears  differ- 


24:6  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

ing  in  size,  in  form,  and  in  general  appearance  from 
those  growing  beside  them.  Some  of  these  can  be 
recognized  as  the  ears  of  established  varieties  ;  but  a  few 
will  be  distinct  from  any  of  the  kinds  in  cultivation. 
Farmers  usually  bestow  little  attention  on  the  different 
kinds  of  ears  which  may  be  sometimes  seen  growing  in 
the  same  field,  and  which  can  be  best  observed  during 
the  cutting  and  harvesting  of  the  crop  ;  but  if  one  farm- 
er in  a  thousand  would  undertake  the  collection  of 
such  ears  with  the  intention  of  sowing  the  seed,  and  thus 
propagating  the  kinds,  the  number  of  varieties  would 
soon  be  considerably  increased,  and  the  kinds  in  culti- 
vation would  be  improved  by  this  selection  of  the  best 
ears.  Those  who  intend  to  collect  ears  of  one  or  more 
of  the  cereals  should  proceed  methodically,  not  only 
when  selecting,  but  in  keeping  the  ears  of  the  apparently 
different  kinds  distinct  at  the  time  of  gathering  them,  so 
that  each  kind  can  be  sown  by  itself,  and  the  produce 
from  the  seed  of  the  selected  ears  collected  and  stored 
for  future  sowing.  During  the  time  of  selecting  ears, 
small  bags  formed  of  cloth  should  be  carried,  and  as  the 
ears  are  separated  from  the  stalks,  they  should  be  placed 
in.  one  or  other  of  the  bags.  Care  should  be  exercised 
to  prevent  confusion  and  intermixing  of  the  seeds. 

Every  circumstance  should  be  noted  at  the  time,  such 
as  the  field  of  grain  in  which  the  ears  were  gathered ; 
the  characteristic  features  which  the  ears  presented  in 
growing,  such  as  size,  form,  whether  the  ears  are  close 
or  open,  and  the  color  of  the  chaff  and  straw,  chaff 
smooth  or  downy,  and  other  points  deemed  worthy  of 
being  recorded.  A  written  description  should  be  placed 
with  the  ears  put  into  each  bag  for  after  reference,  as  it 
is  seldom  advisable  to  trust  to  the  memory  as  to  facts. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUBIST.  247 

The  bags  containing  the  ears  should  be  hung  in  an  open 
place  away  from  mice  or  other  depredators  until  the 
period  of  sowing  the  seeds. 

The  amount  of  trouble  which  the  propagating  of  vari- 
ties  entails,  renders  it  advisable  for  experimenters  not 
to  attempt  too  much  at  one  time.  Only  those  who  are 
resolved  to  bestow  minute  attention  during  the  whole 
period  from  the  time  of  selecting  the  ears  until  the  quan- 
tity of  grain  produced  admits  of  its  being  distributed, 
should  undertake  the  selection  of  ears  for  propagating 
the  variety. 

KEEPING  VARIETIES  PURE. 

In  propagating  new  varieties,  constant  attention  is  es- 
sential to  keep  the  variety  true  to  the  kind  selected, 
more  particularly  if  it  has  originated  in  what  is  termed 
a  sport,  either  the  result  of  cultivation  or  hybridiza- 
tion— the  pollen  of  the  ear  of  one  variety  fertilizing 
the  seeds  contained  in  the  ear  of  a  different  kind.  This 
hybridization  is  sometimes  effected  by  experimenters, 
but  accidental  contact  is  the  more  frequent  cause  of  the 
sports  which  appear  in  cultivated  plants.  Every  variety 
of  grain  in  cultivation  will  occasionally  show  ears  differ- 
ing from  those  which  possess  the  characteristic  appear- 
ances of  the  variety,  while  some  varieties  show  red  or 
brown  ears,  and  ears  with  and  without  awns.  The 
higher  the  manurial  condition  of  the  soil,  the  tend- 
ency to  sporting  appears  to  increase  in  force.  As  the 
soil  should  be  made  rich  on  which  the  seeds  of  the  select- 
ed ears  are  grown  year  after  year,  this  tendency  to  sport 
is  certain  to  appear;  and  as  the  propagating  of  the  select- 
ed variety  is  proceeded  with,  constant  care  is  essential  to 


248  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

cull  out  the  ears  which  differ  from  the  original  stand- 
ard of  the  selected  ears.  If  the  variety  is  the  result  of 
hybridization,  this  culling  is  all-important. 

The  ears  will  differ  considerably  in  appearapce,  some 
resembling  the  kind  from  which  the  fertilizing  pollen 
was  derived,  and  others  more  closely  resembling  the 
variety  which  the  pollen  fertilized.  Uniformity  is  es- 
sential to  entitle  any  grain  to  the  term  variety  ;  and  this 
uniformity  can  only  be  secured  by  constant  care  in  se- 
lection. After  the  type  becomes  fixed,  sporting  and 
degenerating  will  almost  wholly  cease,  provided  ordinary 
care  is  taken  by  the  propagator.  But  every  established 
variety  should  be  kept  up  by  occasional  selection  of  the 
best  ears. 

In  an  industrial  point  of  view,  the  propagating  of  a 
new  prolific  variety  of  any  of  the  grains  is  of  immense 
national  importance.  Any  new  variety  which  would 
yield  from  one  to  four  bushels  of  additional  grain  per 
acre  over  the  ordinary  varieties  in  cultivation  would  tend 
thus  far  to  raise  the  resources  of  our  own  soils.  In  this 
direction  an  extensive  and  most  inviting  field  is  open 
to  all  cultivators.  Were  agriculturists  to  study  more 
closely  the  operations  of  horticulturists,  much  benefit 
would  result  to  all.  Farmers  generally  not  unly  under- 
value, but  wholly  disregard  what  horticulturists  have 
done  for  agriculture. 

The  pleasure,  arid  in  exceptional  cases  the  profit,  to 
be  derived  is  so  considerable,  that  the  propagator  of  new 
varieties  will  generally  be  amply  rewarded  for  the  time 
occupied  in  conducting  the  various  operations  of  select- 
ing, sowing,  and  reaping  new  kinds  of  grain.  Those 
farmers  who  are  anxious  to  improve  the  varieties  of 
grain  in  cultivation — wheat,  oats,  or  barley — should  adopt 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  249 

the  same  means  as  those  so  successfully  followed  out  by 
horticulturists — hybridizing,  and  more  especially  by  se- 
lecting the  best  ears,  and  growing  the  seed  so  obtained 
until  sufficient  quantities  are  secured  to  seed  consider- 
able portions  of  land  preparatory  to  disposing  of  a 
portion  of  the  seeds  raised  from  the  selected  ears.  The 
improvement  of  the  domestic  animals  and  birds  has  been 
mainly  effected  by  selection,  and  the  same  principles  are 
equally  applicable  for  the  improvement  of  the  various 
varieties  of  the  cereals  in  cultivation.  This  field  of  ex- 
periment is  open  to  all,  and  the  persevering  may  cal- 
culate upon  success.  Where  so  much  can  be  effected 
with  even  an  ordinary  amount  of  attention,  the  experi- 
menter who  possesses  a  knowledge  of  the  cereals,  and 
also  of  vegetable  physiology,  is  certain  to  reap  a  good 
harvest.  (See  North  British  Agriculturist  on  the 
subject  of  selecting  new  varieties.) 

PROCURING  EARLIER  SEED  WHEAT  AT  THE  NORTH. 

Mr.  J.  W.  Clark,  of  Wisconsin,  writes  on  this  subject 
as  follows  :  "  Why  should  we  suppose  southern  seed  will 
give  us  earlier  wheat,  when  we  know  our  own  wheat  or 
corn  cannot  ripen  so  early  farther  north  as  it  does  in  our 
own  latitude  ?  Do  not  middle  latitudes  bear  nearly  the 
same  relation  to  the  south  as  northern  ones  do  to  them, 
and  so  in  proportion  of  intermediate  differences  of  dis- 
tance and  temperature  ? 

"  We  have  good  reason  to  believe  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  Dent  corn  grown  in  latitudes  42°  to  44°  north, 
fifteen  years  ago.  But  when  Brigham  Young  and  hia 
dupes  were  scattered  from  Missouri — -Yellow  Dent,  and 
subsequently  White,  in  consequence  of  the  Yellow  suc- 

11* 


250  THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

ceeding — was  introduced  into  these  latitudes  in  Wis- 
consin and  elsewhere,  by  some  of  his,  or  rather  Joe 
Smith's  followers.  The  climate  of  those  latitudes  was 
then  much  as  at  present ;  yet  it  required  full  fjve  years 
to  acclimate  this  favorite  and  now  general  variety  of 
the  northwest,  before  it  matured  sufficiently  early  to 
ripen  ere  severe  frosts  set  in  and  could  be  relied  upon 
as  a  staple  crop.  Wheat  being  subject  to  the  same 
forces  of  climate,  must  be  therefore  influenced  in  the 
degree  that  its  new  place  of  growth  is  dissimilar,  or  more 
or  less  favorable  to  vegetable  development.  Mr.  Clay's 
and  his  neighbor  Mr.  Howard's  experience,  though  the 
opposite  of  each  other,  both  tend  to  prove  that  corn 
cannot  mature  so  early  when  first  grown  from  southern 
seed ;  and  the  writer  used  seed  from  Maryland  two 
years  ago,  and  under  the  most  favorable  condition  of 
soil  and  culture,  yet  not  a  kernel  of  it  ripened.  If 
five  years  are  requisite  to  acclimate  corn  removed  only 
five  or  six  degrees  farther  north,  and  seed  raised  in 
Mississippi  does  not  ripen  till  October  in  Kentucky, 
and  that  grown  in  Maryland  will  not  ripen  at  all  in 
latitude  43°  north,  why  are  we  to  expect  Kentucky 
wheat  to  ripen  in  Western  ISTew  York,  and  the  same 
latitude  west  or  east  of  it,  earlier  than  native-grown 
seed  ? 

"  If  it  should  be  alleged  that  wheat,  unlike  corn  in  this 
particular,  does  not  require  either  so  high  a  heat  or  so 
long  a  season  to  mature  it,  the  fact  is  admitted ;  but 
what  is  the  inference  ?  Is  it,  that  because  wheat  ripens 
early,  and  before  the  hottest  weather  has  more  than  half 
passed,  in  Tennessee  or  Kentucky,  it  will  ripen  equally 
early  five  to  ten  degrees  farther  north  ?  If  this  be  the 
supposition,  it  must  surely  be  without  good  reason  or 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  251 

theory — the  same  thing.  What  can  such  an  inference 
mean  in  the  light  of  the  fact  that  peas,  strawberries, 
etc.,  that  have  been  grown  in  Georgia  and  the  Carolina?. 
are  seen  in  abundance  in  the  .New  York  market  several 
weeks,  more  or  less,  before  the  same  and  similar  varie- 
ties are  even  out  of  blossom  eight  or  ten  degrees  farther 
northward.  The  peas  were  nearly  ripe  at  the  south  in 
consequence  of  being  subject  to  a  sufficiency  of  heat  by 
a  given  date,  and  they  were  not  yet  formed  in  the  pod 
at  the  north,  by  reason  of  not  having  been  subject  to 
any  such  sufficiency  of  heat  as  was  necessary  to  a  like 
result  at  the  same  date. 

"  If  wheat  seed  is  taken  from  south  to  north,  it  does 
not  carry  any  vital  force  in  the  seed  germ  that  can 
modify  or  resist  the  force  of  northern  temperatures.  On 
the  contrary,  northern  temperature,  or  climatic  forces, 
must  control  the  character  of  the  next  seed  crop,  by 
wholly  originating  and  controlling  the  growth  of  the 
entire  plant.  Supposing  northern  fall  wheat  to  be  just 
restarting  to  grow  with  vigor  at  the  opening  of  the  Erie 
Canal,  similar  fall  wheat  will  be  then  half-leg  high  in 
Tennessee,  and  this  because  it  was  subject  to  a  sufficiency 
of  heat  weeks  before  our  northern  wheat  received  any 
such  adequate,  supply  of  that  thermal  element. 

"  To  procure  seed  from  the  south  will  not  only  not 
accelerate,  but  retard  the  harvest,  because  such  seed  will 
have  been  acclimated  by  and  be  adapted  to  a  higher 
degree  of  heat  at  -such  and  all,  or  nearly  all,  stages  of 
its  growth,  than  it  can  receive  in  a  far  northern  situation. 
Having  grown  under  a  higher  thermal  forcing  influ- 
ence, it  will  not  grow,  till  after  several  years  of  accli- 
mation, with  equal  vigor  and  rapidity  with  a  lower  heat 
or  less  forcing. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

"  But  procure  seed  from  Canada,  Sweden,  or  anymore 
northern  locality,  where  the  temperature  in  the  average 
is  colder,  and  the  time  of  first  growing  later  in  the 
spring,  Knd  harvest  still  later,  in  consequence  of  the 
lower  average  of  summer  heat,'  and  the  more  time 
needed  to  supply  the  heat  required;  take  seed  wheat 
from  such  a  situation  to  one  where  the  growing  season 
commences  earlier  by  reason  of  the  requisite  heat  being- 
earlier  present,  and  it  will  not  only  commence  its  growth 
as  much  earlier  as  the  germinating  degree  of  heat  ear- 
lier surrounds  it,  but  will  ripen  much  earlier  generally, 
as  the  average  heat  is  higher  by  reason  of  having  been 
subject  to  the  whole  amount  of  the  great  thermal  ele- 
ment necessary  to  its  maturity  in  a  shorter  or  less  period 
of  time.  !  Thus,  on  this  question,  theory  and  facts  ap- 
pear to  adjust  themselves  consistently  together ;  and  our 
decided  conclusion  is,  that  from  farther  north  is  the  di- 
rection seed  wheat  or  corn,  or  in  fact  any  cereal,  should 
ber procured,  if  the  object  be  to  secure  earlier  maturity 
in  the  -resulting  product.  Cereals  that  ripen  early  far 
north,  will  naturally  and  with  general  certainty  mature 
earlier  when  cultivated  considerably  farther  south." 
Read  Climotology  of  Wheat,  pp.  57,  79. 

No  FACTS  TO  PKOVE  IT. 

Old  wheat-growers  will  contend  earnestly,  that  facts 
are  against  this  theory.  If  they  are,  I  have  not  had  the 
good. fortune  to  meet  those  facts.  If  it  can  be  shown 
by  well-conducted  experiments  that  seed  wheat  should 
be  procured  in  a  southern  latitude,  then  we  will  believe 
it.  But,  in  order  to  establish  such  an  assertion,  excel- 
lent seed  must  be  obtained  in  every  instance,  and  the 
test  made  fairly,  for  several  successive  seasons. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  253 


DEGENERACY  OF  WHEAT — CAUSE  AND  REMEDY. 

From  time  out  of  mind  there  appears  to  have  been 
a  prevalent  opinion  among  wheat-growers  that  varie- 
ties of  wheat  deteriorate,  becoming  in  a  few  years  so 
unproductive  that  other  kinds  are  '  sought  and  culti- 
vated. Allusion  to  this  subject  is  made  in  Virgil, 
penned  more  than  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  the 
writer  speaks  of  having  seen  the  peasant  grieve  over 
the  degeneracy  of  his  grain,  where  .the  heads  had  not 
been  culled  with  care  from  year  to  year.  We  have 
always  observed  from  boyhood  that  farmers  have  recog- 
nized this  fact,  and  when  alluding  to  it  have  appeared 
to  acknowledge  that  there  is  no  remedy  for  it.  When 
writers  have  alluded  to  varieties  of  wheat  cultivated  in 
different  parts  of  our  country,  they  have  almost  inva- 
riably mentioned  kinds  that  once  nourished,  but  "for 
some  unknown  cause  have  degenerated."  The  English 
Agricultural  Society,  several  years  ago,  issued  circulars 
desiring  information  on  this  subject. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  varieties  of  wheat  do  run 
out.  We  well  remember  when  a  boy,  that  a  kind  of 
winter  wheat  called  Red  Chaff,  or  Bald  Wheat,  was 
cultivated  quite  extensively  in  tha.t  part  of  the  State 
where  we  were  living ;  but  in  a  few  years  farmers  dis- 
continued raising  it,  because,  they  said,  uit  had  run 
out."  The  same  was  true  of  the  White  Flint,  Beaver 
Dam,  Wild  Goose,  and  Hutchinson  Wheat,  most  of 
which  yielded  well  when  first  introduced ;  but  after  a 
few  years  failed  to  return  remunerating  crops.  The 
identity  of  the  variety  appeared  to  be  gone.  The  heads 
were  of  various  colors,  and  the  kernels  small,  of  differ- 
ent and  varied  forms,  and  the  yield  was  less  and  less 


254  THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

from  year  to  year,  until  farmers  were  satisfied  that  it 
would  not  pay  to  sow  that  kind  of  wheat  any  longer. 

The  abettors  of  this  theory  of  degeneracy,  maintain 
that  the  wheat  plant  has  an  inherent  tendency  to  de- 
generate ;  and  not  a  few  men,  who  have  acquired  some- 
thing of  a  reputation  for  being  scientific,  have  also 
endorsed  this  visionary  theory,  and  have  even  affirmed 
that  "  the  science  of  botany  and  vegetable  physiology 
proves  that  wheat,  or  any  other  plant,  when  grown  on 
the  same  soil  for  a  long  succession  of  years,  will  con- 
tinue to  degenerate  until  it  is  not  worth  raising."  This 
theory  received  the  sanction  of  such  men  as  Hon.  Jesse 
Buel,  who  moved  the  world  with  his  agricultural  wis- 
dom, and  who  acknowledged  that  "  the  tendency  of 
varieties  to  degenerate  is  not  a  vague  opinion,  but  a 
fixed  fact,  and  that  the  duration  of  a  variety  in  perfec- 
tion is  generally  computed  at  from  fourteen  to  twenty 
years,  though  this  period  is  sometimes  prolonged  by  a 
change  of  soil  or  climate."  T.  A.  Knight,  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  London  Horticultural  Society,  writes:  "I 
believe  that  almost  every  variety  now  cultivated  in  this 
and  the  adjoining  counties,  has  long  since  passed  the 
period  of  its  age  when  a  succession  should  have  taken 
its  place.  It  has  long  been  known  that  every  variety 
cultivated,  gradually  becomes  debilitated,  losing  a  large 
portion  of  its  powers  of  producing  grain  fully  equal  to 
previous  crops." 

We  know  this  is  not  so.  The  science  of  botany  and 
vegetable  physiology  teaches  no  such  doctrine.  Rea- 
son, common  sense,  and  the  experience  of  the  past  are 
all  decidedly  against  it.  It  never  has  been  and  never 
can  be  shown  that  there  is  any  natural  tendency  in 
well-established  varieties  of  wheat,  or  any  other  grain,  to 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTUBIST.  255 

degenerate,  any  more  than  there  is  in  the  suggestion 
that  the  human  race  grows  imbecile  and  effeminate  from 
generation  to  generation.  The  theory  has  no  facts  to 
sustain  it.  If  properly  cultivated  and  suitable  care  be 
exercised  in  selecting  the  seed,  varieties  may  be  main- 
tained in  all  their  primeval  excellency  and  purity  as 
long  as  the  vicissitudes  of  the  seasons  continue.  We 
grant  that  varieties  do  degenerate  and  lose  their  identi- 
ty, their  "  vital  energies  "  and  powers  of  reproduction. 

We  have  due  respect  for  the  integrity  of  such  writers 
as  were  just  alluded  to.  But  when  they  recorded  these 
suggestions  they  simply  reiterated  what  they  considered 
to  be  plausible  theories  that  had  been  broached  by  other 
writers,  all  of  whom  had  made  assertions  touching  the 
degeneration  of  wheat.  In  this  way  many  vague  and 
exceedingly  erroneous  theories  have  been  promulgated 
from  year  to  year  by  scientific  writers  on  agricultural 
subjects.  But  mere  assertion  of  a  supposed  fact  does 
not  constitute  a  well-established  theory  on  any  subject. 

On  the  borders  of  the  River  Nile,  in  Africa,  one  of 
the  finest  regions  in  the  world  for  the  production  of  ex- 
cellent wheat,  the  same  varieties  are  grown,  from  year 
to  year,  without  the  least  deterioration,  that  were  culti- 
vated three  thousand  years  ago.  And  the  same  thing 
may  be  done  in  this  country  by  exercising  the  same  care 
in  the  selection  of  the  seed  that  is  observed  by  the  farm- 
ers in  that  part  of  the  world. 

It  is  a  well-established  fact  that  wheat  will  hybridize 
when  different  varieties  are  allowed  to  grow  in  close 
proximity.  Of  course,  the  product  would  be  a  mixture 
of  seed,  in  which  the  purity  of  the  variety  is  gone. 
Consequently,  with  a  mixture  of  seed,  a  fanner  would 
find  himself  in  the  same  circumstances  with  reference 


256  THE    WHEAT    CULTU11IST. 

to  the  improvement  of  his  wheat  that  he  is  when  he 
undertakes  to  improve  his  domestic  animals  by  breed 
ing  from  mongrels  or  from  grade  stock.  It  is  well  un- 
derstood that  such  animals — grades  and  mgngrels — 
when  employed  as  breeders,  never  transmit  the  excel- 
lent points  of  desirable  form  and  symmetry  to  their  off- 
spring with  reliable  certainty,  while  pure-bred  animals 
never  fail  in  this  respect. 

The  same  facts  hold  good  in  the  vegetable  kingdom, 
with  seed  wheat  in  particular.  When  different  varie- 
ties are  sown  in  close  proximity,  and  the  product,  which 
will  be  an  impure  grain,  is  again  employed  -for  seed,  a 
pure  variety  of  choice  wheat  may  be  run  out  most  effect- 
ually in  a  few  years,  so  that  intelligent  farmers  who 
were  only  superficial  observers  would  be  ready  to  affirm, 
without  any  hesitancy,  that  wheat  does  degenerate. 
The  cause  of  degeneracy,  and  the  remedy,  may  all  be 
expressed  in  a  few  words.  "We  have  hinted  at  the  cause, 
namely :  sowing  different  varieties  near  each  other,  so 
that  the  grain  will  hybridize ;  thrashing  several  kinds 
.together,  arid  continuing  to  employ  such  grain  for  seed 
from  year  to  year.  Herein  lies  the  whole  secret  of  the 
degeneracy  of  varieties.  If  a  pure  variety  be  kept  by 
itself  with  suitable  care,  and  cultivated  on  good  ground, 
and  the  grain  never  thrashed  with  other  wheat,  the  pu- 
rity of  a  variety  of  wheat,  with  all  its  excellent  charac- 
teristics, may  be  maintained  intact  as  long  as  wheat 
may  be  cultivated.  There  is  no  uncertainty  about  this 
suggestion.  The  idea  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the 
established  laws  of  vegetable  physiology.  Cultivating 
any  variety  of  grain  in  a  slip-shod,  slack,  and  perfunc- 
tory manner,  will  cause  the  best  variety  of  wheat  the 
world  ever  knew  to  degenerate  and  run  completely  out 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  257 

in  a  few  years.  On  the  contrary,  if  the  seed  be  selected 
every  season  with  the  same  care  that  the  originator  of 
the  Weeks  wheat  observed  for  a  decade  of  years,  gen- 
erations unborn  would  cultivate  the  same  varieties  that 
our  fields  now  produce,  without  the  least  deterioration 
in  either  yield  or  quality  of  grain. 

FURTHER  TESTIMONY  ON  DEGENERACY. 

I  herewith  copy  the  following  suggestions  from  the 
"  Independent :"  "  If  there  were  an  inherent  tendency  in 
wheat  to  degenerate — as  many  people  affirm  there  is — 
how  is  it  that  no  signs  of  degeneracy  are  manifest,  so 
long  as  a  well-established  variety  is  cultivated  well,  from 
year  to  year,  and  kept  by  itself?  E"o  farmer  was  ever 
heard  to  complain  that  his  '  wheat  appears  to  be  run- 
ning out,'  until  after  there  has  been  great  neglect  in  sav- 
ing the  seed. 

"  Clean,  pure,  and  well-ripened  seed  is  sowed  on  the 
best  soil  for  many  seasons,  after  which,  many  farmers 
become  indifferent  about  their  seed,  often  sowing  that 
kind  of  grain  which  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a 
hybrid.  Mediterranean  wheat — which  is  usually  a  red 
variety — and  the  various  kinds  of  white  wheat,  are 
often  thrashed  together.  The  good,  the  poor,  the  well- 
matured,  and  half-ripe  and  shrunken  kernels,  all  go  into 
one  bin ;  and  such  grain  is  used  for  seed.  Now,  as 
wheat  will  sport  and  hybridize  when  growing  in  close 
proximity,  how  can  we  expect,  with  any  degree  of  con- 
fidence, that  good  grain  will  be  produced  by  very  infe- 
rior seed  ? 

"  In  producing  new  varieties  of  strawberries  and  Irish 
potatoes,  a  certain  kind  is  often  cultivated  for  several 


258  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

successive  years,  and  sometimes  abandoned,  as  un- 
worthy of  further  efforts  in  endeavoring  to  establish  a 
new  variety.  Therefore,  when  farmers  sow  anything 
and  everything  that  is  called  wheat,  letting  ii^  all  grow 
together,  whether  it  ripens  early  or  late,  and  cultivate 
it  poorly  at  that,  and  take  no  pains  to  sow  the  choicest 
seed,  or  to  keep  a  good  variety  distinct,  what  can  any 
one  naturally  expect,  but  rapid  degeneracy  of  the  grain  ? 
Degeneracy,  or  '  running  out  of  varieties,'  is  the  natural 
and  certain  result  of  such  bad  management  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  seed,  and  cultivation  of  the  crop,  to  which 
we  have  alluded.  .* 

"  We  never  hear  that  a  good  variety  of  Indian  corn 
has  degenerated,  until  it  has  been  planted  near  other 
kinds,  with  which  it  has  been  allowed  to  mix.  And,  if 
the  same  care  were  exercised  in  selecting  the  very  best 
kernels  of  a  well-established  variety  of  wheat  for  seed, 
and  keeping  the  seed  grain  separate,  in  a  secure  place, 
we  should  have  the  unbounded  satisfaction  of  seeing  our 
wheat  fields  produce,  not  only  larger  heads,  plumper  ker- 
nels, and  heavier  grain  in  much  greater  abundance  per 
acre,  but  no  signs  of  degeneracy  would  appear,  were  the 
same  kind  of  grain  raised  in  one  locality  generation 
after  generation. 

"Historians  inform  us  that  the  same  varieties  of  good 
wheat  are  now  grown  on  the  fertile  soils  on  each  side 
of  the  River  Nile  in  Egypt,  with  no  signs  of  degeneracy,' 
that  were  raised  there  a  thousand  years  ago. 

"  Instead  of  there  being  a  natural  tendency  in  wheat 
to  degenerate,  if  it  is  cultivated  as  it  always  should  be, 
and  none  but  the  best  seed  put  in,  there  would  be  a 
manifest  tendency  to  improve  from  year  to  year.  Every 
experienced  wheat-grower  will  acknowledge  this.  Farm- 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  259 

ers  who  never  save  their  seed  with  care  \\ill  doubt 
it." 

The  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  recorded  the  fol- 
lowing fact  in  regard  to  the  degeneracy  of  the  Hunter 
wheat,  which  corroborates  what  I  have  penned.  He 
writes :  "  Hunter's  wheat,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
esteemed  varieties  in  Scotland,  was  discovered  half  a 
century  ago  by  the  roadside  in  Berwickshire.  Through 
long  culture  and  want  of  care  this  variety  has  greatly 
deteriorated." 

In  searching  agricultural  documents  for  facts  on  this 
subject,  I  have  been  greatly  surprised  to  meet  with  so 
long  a  list  of  once  excellent  varieties  of  wheat,  entirely 
run  out,  so  that  they  are  no  longer  cultivated.  It  is  a 
serious  and  grave  accusation  against  American  tillers  of 
the  soil,  that  as  a  general  rule,  the  wheat  crop  is  neg- 
lected and  shamefully  abused ;  and  I  often  wonder  that 
we  raise  half  as  good  crops  as  we  now  meet  with. 

WHEN  TO  Sow  WINTER  WHEAT. 

Winter  wheat  may  be  sowed  too  early  in  the  season 
as  well  as  too  late.  Every  intelligent  farmer  will  ad- 
mit this  fact.  There  must  be,  therefore,  a  certain 
period,  midway  between  the  too-early  and  the  too-late 
time,  which  may  be  fixed  upon,  as  the  most  proper  pe- 
riod of  all  the  growing  season,  to  put  in  the  seed.  In 
designating  any  given  period  as  the  best  time  to  sow 
winter  wheat,  there  are  considerations  of  transcendent 
importance  to  be  observed,  each  and  all  of  which  will 
be  found  to  exert  more  or  less  influence  on  the  wheat 
crop.  The  growing  wheat  has  destructive  enemies  to 
encoimter,  which  flourish  only  at  certain  periods  in  the 


i:60  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

growing  season.  The  aim  of  the  husbandman,  there- 
fore,  should  be  to  have  his  wheat  plants  grow,  as  much 
as  possible,  before,  and  after  these  enemies  nourish  and 
commit  their  ravages  on  the  growing  plants.  Besides 
the  insects  destructive  to  wheat  that  must  be  encoun- 
tered in  autumn,  and  those  that  it  is  desirable  to  shun 
in  the  summer,  before  harvest,  there  are  adverse  circum- 
stances which  must  be  foreseen  and  guarded  against,  as 
much  as  practicable,  among  which  I  may  mention 
drought,  wet  weather,  and  the  sinister  influence  of  the 
freezing  and  thawing  of  the  soil  in  winter.  In  addition 
to  these  things,  the  hoMt  of  the  wheat  plant  should 
exercise  a  controlling  influence  in  the  mind  of  the 
wheat-grower,  in  determining  the  most  proper  period 
for  sowing  the  seed  for  a  crop  of  winter  grain.  The 
wheat-grower  must  encounter  hosts  of  formidable  an- 
tagonists, in  autumn,  in  winter,  in  spring  time,  and  in 
summer.  To  outstrip  one,  dodge  the  other,  circumvent 
a  third,  take  advantage  of  a  fourth,  to  run  the  gauntlet, 
so  to  speak,  from  September  till  the  next  harvest,  liter- 
ally surrounded  by  untold  millions  of  insects  that  find 
a  rich  subsistence  on  the  germinating  kernels,  as  soon 
as  they  exhibit  signs  of  vegetation,  and  that  feed  on 
the  tender  blades,  and  extract  the  delicate  juices  from 
the  growing  kernels,  and  to  triumph  over  all  the  ad- 
verse circumstances  and  unpropitious  influences  of  the 
season,  and  to  be  able,  by  agricultural  skill  and  judi- 
cious management,  to  develop  a  large  field  of  plump 
wheat,  waving  in  the  breezes  like  a  sea  of  gold,  is,  most 
assuredly,  a  laudable  employment.  When  we  consider 
how  many  destructive  enemies  growing  wheat  has,  and 
what  a  wonderfully  fastidious  plant  wheat  is,  in  regard 
to  the  vegetable  nutrition  that  the  soil  affords,  it  seems 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST.  261 

a  mystery — not  that  farmers  do  not  grow  large  crops  of 
this  kind  of  grain — but  that  they  are  able  to  mature 
any  at  all. 

Now,  then,  for  the  best  time  to  sow  winter  wheat. 
In  the  first  place,  looking  forward  to  the  long  and 
dreary  winter,  we  find  that  the  strongest  wheat  plants, 
those  that  are  most  firmly  rooted  and  that  have  a  sys- 
tem of  luxuriant  leaves,  sufficient  to  cover  the  surface 
of  .the  ground,  will  endure  the  rigors  of  our  northern 
winters  with  less  injury.  In  consideration  of  this  fact, 
reason  would  seem  to  dictate  putting  in  the  seed  very 
early — even  in  the  month  of  August.  But  there  are 
destructive  enemies  ahead.  If  the  seed  be  put  in  very 
early,  so  that  the  plants  attain  a  large  size  in  a  few 
weeks,  countless  hordes  of  insects,  in  the  form  of  the 
wheat  fiy,  will  nearly  destroy  the  crop.  As  this  enemy 
flourishes  between  the  two  periods — early  seed  time  and 
late  seed  time — we  must  evade,  if  possible,  its  ravages. 
Therefore,  we  must  choose  the  late  seed  time ;  and  in 
order  to  be  prepared  to  resist  the  adverse  influences  of 
winter,  we  must  plough  and  harrow  and  manure  the 
soil,  cultivate,  pulverize,  drain,  and  fertilize  the  seed- 
bed, and  by  repeated  and  most  thorough  mechanical 
tearing  and  trituration,  get  the  ground  into  such  a  fa- 
vorable condition  for  vegetation,  that  the  young  plants 
will  spring  from  seed  deposited  in  the  soil,  after  the 
dreaded  foes  have  run  their  course,  and  still  have  suffi- 
cient time  to  become  rooted  and  topped  before  the 
winter  sets  in.  Here,  then,  we  are  able  to  fix  upon  a 
point  of  time  for  every  farmer  in  every  latitude,  with 
the  assurance  that,  if  a  crop  cannot  be  secured  by  seed- 
ing, at  that  period,  we  must  meet  a  failure. 

When  wheat  is  sowed  so  late  in  the  growing  season. 


262  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

that  the  roots  acquire  very  little  toughness,  and  the 
leaves  attain  only  a  small  size  before  cold  and  freezing 
weather  comes  on,  the  growing  plants  will  suffer  such 
serious  injury  by  the  intense  cold,  and  freezing,  and 
thawing,  and  upheaval  of  the  soil,  that  a  fair  crop  of 
grain  will  not  be  produced  the  next  season.  Our  best 
wheat-growers  understand  this  point  perfectly  ;  and  our 
horticulturists  and  pomologists  know  how  eminently  im- 
portant it  is,  that  a  plant  finish  growing  and  attain  a  pro- 
per ripeness  and  solidity  of  juices,  and  some  tenacity  of 
fibre,  before  the  tender  plants  are  exposed  to  the  destruc- 
tive influences  of  cold  weather.  In  order,  therefore,  to 
be  still  more  definite  and  explicit,  respecting  the  best  time 
to  sow  winter  wheat,  we  may  fix  the  time  at  this  period, 
viz.,  let  the  seed  be  put  in  as  late  in  the  season  as  it  can 
be,  and  still  have  sufficient  time  to  throw  out  a  system 
of  roots  and  leaves,  sufficiently  large  to  cover  nearly  or 
quite  the  entire  surface  of  the  ground. 

In  this  latitude,  the  great  majority  of  wheat-growers 
agree  that  about  the  10th  of  September  is  the  most  de- 
sirable period  to  sow  winter  wheat.  But,  I  think,  that 
every  intelligent  farmer,  who  understands  the  habit  of 
the  wheat  plant,  will  agree  with  me,  that  if  the  ground 
be  put  in  such  excellent  tilth,  that  the  young  plants  will 
attain  the  desired  size  before  cold  weather  comes  on, 
the  first  or  even  the  10th  of  October  will  be  found 
a  more  desirable  period  for  autumnal  seed-time  than  any 
time  in  September.  But,  let  it  be  understood,  that  un- 
less the  soil  is  in  an  excellent  state  of  fertility — really 
rich — friable,  and  sufficiently  moist  when  the  seed  is 
sowed  to  insure  immediate  germination,  it  will  not  be 
safe  to  defer  seeding  to  that  late  period.  Let  me  assure 
wheat-growers,  however,  that  in  practice,  they  will  find 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 

it  more  profitable  to  make  their  soil  doubly  rich,  and 
pulverize  it  more  thoroughly,  and  put  in  their  seed  as 
late  as  the  first  of  October,  than  to  cultivate  tolerably 
well,  manure  moderately,  and  sow  at  an  early  date. 

As  we  move  south  of  this  latitude,  the  period  of  seed 
time  should  be  fixed  at  a  still  later  date  in  autumn.  We 
should  keep  in  mind  this  one  great  fact,  to  put  whip  and 
spur  to  the  growing  wheat  plants  between  the  period 
when  insects  would  injure  its  growth,  and  the  influences 
of  winter.  Then,  the  crop  will  be  safe,  so  far  as  its  sal- 
vation can  be  secured  by  choosing  the  most  propitious 
period  for  putting  in  the  seed.  But  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant-considerations in  the  whole  system  of  wheat  cul- 
ture is  to  have  the  soil  in  the  right  condition,  bounti- 
fully fertilized  with  such  pabulum  as  will  develop  a 
healthful  and  stiff  straw  and  a  plump  and  shining  ker- 
nel. 

It  would  seem  that  early  sowed  grain  in  autumn 
would  mature  the  next  season  just  as  many  days  earlier 
than  other  crops,  as  the  seed  which  was  put  in.  But 
experiments  have  shown  that,  in  practice,  we  cannot 
count  upon  any  advantage,  from  early  seeding,  in  se- 
curing an  early  harvest,  as  wheat  sowed  the  middle  of 
September  and  the  first  of  October,  on  the  same  kind  of 
ground,  will  mature  at  the  same  period  the  next  season. 
If  we  would  have  wheat  ripen  early  in  the  season,  an 
early  variety  must  be  obtained,  as  early  seeding  will  not 
secure  an  early  harvest. 

The  following  extract  taken  from  the  report  of  a  com- 
mittee appointed  by  the  Kentucky  Agricultural  and 
Mechanical  Association,  will  be  read  with  interest.  The 
Committee  say : 

"  The  fly,  or   as  it  is  popularly  known,  the  Hessian 


264  THE   WHEAT    CTJLTURIST. 

fly,  which  was  not  known  in  our  country  until  the 
war  of  the  Revolution,  was  supposed  to  have  been  intro- 
duced here  in  the  straw  of  the  bedding  of  those  merce- 
nary troops  (the  Hessians)  whom  our  good  mother  sent 
over  here  to  cut  our  throats.  Your  committee  know  of 
no  remedy  for  this  pest.  It  has  been  thought  that  late 
sowing  obviated  it  to  some  extent.  This  is,  no  doubt, 
true.  But  there  are  several  difficulties  attending  it. 
First — late  sown  wheat  is  more  liable  to  be  winter-kill- 
ed than  that  which  is  early  sown.  Second — it  is  just 
as  liable  to  the  spring  crop  of  the  fly  as  the  other.  And 
third — if  it  escapes  these,  it  is  much  more  liable  to  that 
worst  of  all  difficulties,  rust — indeed  almost  sure  to  be 
materially  injured.  Then  the  question  comes,  what 
shall  we  do  ?  It  would  probably  be  best  not  to  sow 
early  or  late,  but  take  a  medium,  say  from  the  25th 
September  -to  10th  October.  Very  early  sown  wheat 
is  very  liable  to  be  badly  injured  by  the  insect." 

Moore's  "  Rural  New  Yorker,"  published  at  Rochester, 
~New  York,  in  the  centre  of  a  fine  wheat-growing  coun- 
try, says :  "  If  the  question  is  presented  to  the  farmer 
whether  he  shall  sow  his  wheat  very  early  in  the  season 
on  soil  hastily  and  imperfectly  prepared,  or  wait  until  a 
later  period  and  expend  more  labor  in  the  preparation 
of  the  seed-bed,  let  him  decide  in  favor  of  late  sowing 
and  thorough  preparation.  Under  most  circumstances 
early  sowing  is  of  no  advantage,  and  often  it  is  highly 
injurious.  The  supposed  benefit  to  be  derived  from  it 
is  a  large  fall  growth,  and  strong-rooted  plants  which 
can  endure  the  winter.  But  it  is  not  always  the  largest 
growth  of  top  in  the  wheat  plant  in  the  fall  which 
makes  the  best  root.  Early  sown  wheat  may  have  its 
growth,  by  means  of  warm,  wet  weather,  thrown  largely 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  265 

to  the  top  and  less  to  the  root,  than  is  desirable,  and  in 
this  case  will  not  come  through  the  winter  as  well  as 
that'sown  later,  when  the  cool  weather  is  favorable  to 
root  growth  and  healthy  development  of  leaf.  We  do 
not  advise  late  sowing  on  poorly  prepared  ground,  and 
that  which  is  too  much  impoverished.  Sow  early  on 
such  soil,  if  you  must  sow  it  in.  poor  condition.  But  it 
is  preferable  to  defer  the  seeding  a  week  or  two,  and,  in 
the  mean  time,  till  and  manure  the  land.  A  top-dress- 
ing of  manure  or  straw,  after  the  sowing,  is  worth  more 
for  winter  protection  than  a  large  development  of  the 
plant  leaf;  and  Western  farmers  that  are  in  the  habit 
of  burning  large  quantities  of  straw  might  find  better 
use  for  it  in  shielding  their  wheat  fields. 

"  This  year  the  Hessian  fly  has  injured  the  wheat  crop 
to  a  greater  extent  than  usual.  Early  sowing  induces 
their  attack.  Yery  early  sowing,  followed  by  a  warm 
autumn,  sometimes  causes  the  seed  stalk  to  start  before 
winter  stops  the  growth  of  the  plant,  and  thus  a  portion 
of  its  strength  is  wasted.  We  do  not  advocate  extremes 
either  way  in  sowing  wheat,  but  first,  a  thorough  prep- 
aration of  the  soil,  then  the  choosing,  if  possible,  of 
that  medium  period  which  comes  after  the  heat  and 
drought  of  an  early  autumn,  and  gives  time  for  a 
moderate  and  healthy  growth  before  winter." 

Mr.  David  Wood,  Venice,  Cayuga  County,  New  York, 
who  is  an  excellent  practical  farmer,  communicated  to 
me  the  following  suggestions  in  relation  to  wheat  cul- 
ture : — The  best  time  to  sow  winter  wheat  with  us  is, 
from  the  first  of  September  to  the  tenth.  If  sowed  be- 
fore that  period  the  plants  grow  too  large  before  winter. 
Wheat  that  has  attained  a  large  growth  in  autumn,  is 
more  apt  to  winter-kill  than  if  the  stems  and  leaves 

12 


266  THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURTST. 

were  smaller.  If  sowed  later  than  this  period,  the 
plants  will  not  grow  enough  before  winter  to  insure  a 
good  crop  of  grain. 

4. 

SOWING  SEED  WHEAT  IN  WINTER. 

I  once  tried  an  experiment  by  sowing  winter  wheat 
after  the  growing  season  had  ended,  and  the  ground 
was  about  to  freeze  up.  The  soil  was  thoroughly  pre- 
pared, by  several  times  ploughing,  and  the  last  plough- 
ing was  done  about  the  middle  of  November.  About 
the  fifth  of  December  there  were  certain  indications  that 
winter  was  about  to  commence  in  sober  earnest.  I 
then  sowed  the  wheat,  and  harrowed  it  in ;  and  the  next 
day  the  ground  froze  up  tight,  and  remained  till  the 
next  March.  The  wheat  did  not  germinate  until  the 
growing  season  had  commenced. 

The  experiment  was  exceedingly  unsatisfactory,  as 
not  more  than  one-half  the  kernels  seemed  to  vegetate. 
I  sowed  seed  at  the  rate  of  about  two  bushels  per 
acre  ;  but  the  young  plants  stood  unusually  thin  on  the 
ground — not  one  of  them  tillered  at  all  ;  the  straw  grew 
very  coarse,  the  heads  were  short,  the  grain  shrunken 
and  small,  and  the  stems  and  leaves  were  so  badly 
affected  with  red  rust,  that  I  never  cared  to  repeat 
a  similar  experiment. 

General  R.  Harmon  writes  in  relation  to  the  amount 
of  seed  per  acre  and  time  of  sowing,  that  there  is 
some  difference  in  opinion  as  to  the  quantity  required 
to  be  sown  to  the  acre :  first,  we  must  take  into  con- 
sideration the  soil,  its  quality  (for  on  that  much  de- 
pends), and  the  time  of  sowing — -on  clay  loam  soils,  the 
first  week  in  September  is  the  best  time  for  this  section 


THE    WHEAT    CULTTJKIST.  267 

of  the  State.  It  is  important  to  have  it  take  a  good 
root  before  winter,  and  if  sown  earlier,  the  fly  is  very 
apt  to  destroy  some  of  it  in  the  fall ;  and  if  it  should  be 
so  large  as  to  nearly  cover  the  ground  the  last  of  Octo- 
ber, it  should  be  eaten  off  by  cattle  or  sheep,  as  it  is 
less  liable  to  be  injured  by  deep  snows.  Here  one  bushel 
of  seed  to  the  acre,  is  as  good  as  more  on  soils  in  good 
condition  ;  if  sown  ten  days  later,  add  one  peck  more 
seed  per  acre.  On  sandy,  gravelly  loams,  the  second 
week  in  September  is  the  most  favorable  time  for  sow- 
ing ;  if  earlier,  the  fly  is  very  apt  to  affect  it,  so  as  to 
diminish  the  crop.  Wheat,  on  such  soils,  appears  to  suf- 
fer more  from  the  fly,  than  on  clay  soils.  On  these 
soils,  one  bushel  per  acre,  and  if  the  soil  is  not  in  good 
condition,  one  peck  more  should  be  sown.  The  White 
Flint  spreads  or  tillers  more  than  the  common  varieties ; 
and  when  I  have  sown  a  bushel  and  a  half  the  second 
week  in  September,  it  was  too  thick,  the  straw  fine,  the 
heads  short,  and  the  berry  not  as  large  and  fine  as  it 
would  have  been,  if  one  peck  less  had  been  sown  to  the 
acre.  There  is  one  advantage  in  sowing  thick  on  soils 
where  it  is  subject  to  be  affected  by  rust :  it  will  ripen  two 
or  three  days  earlier.  That  is  an  important  consider- 
ation on  soils  unfavorable  to  the  early  ripening  of  wheat. 

William  R.  Schuyler,  Michigan,  recorded  the  follow- 
ing suggestions  in  reference  to  the  time  of  sowing  winter 
wheat  in  that  State: 

"It  is  evident  from  reports  received  from  other  sec- 
tions of  the  State,  that  in  several  counties  the  crop  will 
not  be  more  than  half  the  usual  average.  There  is  reason 
to  fear  that  early  sown  wheat  will  again  suffer  from  the 
fall  attacks  of  this  insect,  unless,  as  is  sometimes  the 
case,  it  has  been  followed  up  and  nearly  exterminated 


268  THE   WHEAT    CULTIJKIST. 

by  its  parasitic  enemies.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  farmers 
who  last  year  finished  sowing  in  August  and  the  first 
of  September,  will  consult  their  true  interests  by  defer- 
ring the  work  till  a  later  period  in  the  month.  I  am 
aware  that  in  endeavoring  to  escape  one  calamity  it  is 
advisable,  if  possible,  to  avoid  the  opposite  evil. 

"  On  stiff,  tenacious  clay  loams,  especially  when  not 
thoroughly  underdrained,  wheat  sown  after  the  month 
of  September,  is  liable  to  be  injured  by  the  winter  and 
spring  frosts ;  or  if  carried  safely  through  the  winter, 
protected  by  its  mantle  of  snow,  it  is  more  endangered 
by  the  attacks  of  the  spring  fly,  it  not  being  sufficiently 
vigorous  to  outgrow  the  effects  of  the  injury.  Late 
sown  sandy  soils,  also,  when  not  properly  tilled,  are  still 
more  exposed  to  the  attacks  of  this  spring  generation. 
In  districts  where  the  midge  prevails,  it  is  all-important 
that  sowing  should  not  be  at  so  late  a  period  as  to  re- 
tard the  ripening  of  the  crop.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  no 
doubt  familiar  to  every  careful,  observing  farmer,  that 
under  the  same  conditions  of  the  land  there  is  scarcely 
any  difference  in  the  ripening  of  wheat  sown  in  the 
first  or  third  week  of  September.  There  seems,  there- 
fore, to  be  a  necessity  for  selecting  a  medium  period  for 
sowing  as  the  best  protection  against  the  fly,  avoiding  at 
the  same  time  other  evils  incident  to  the  late  sowing. 

"  A  single  frost  is  supposed  to  destroy  all  the  insects 
while  in  the  state  of  the  fly.  There  is,  consequently, 
no  danger  to  be  apprehended  if  the  wheat  is  not  sown 
nor  up  until  after  an  autumnal  frost.  In  seasons, 
therefore,  when  the  fly  is  known  to  be  prevalent,  it 
would  doubtless  be  the  safer  plan  to  defer  sowing  until 
even  the  last  week  in  September,  should  not  a  sharp 
frost  in  the  mean  time  occur.  In  the  climate  of  Michi- 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  269 

gan  we  seldom  escape  a  frost  through  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember. Last  season  was  one  of  those  exceptions  that 
will  sometimes  occur  in  general  rules,  the  effects  whereof 
cannot  be  guarded  against.  If  my  recollection  is  right, 
there  was  no  perceptible  frost  throughout  the  month  of 
September,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  present  crop 
of  wheat  was  materially  injured  by  the  insect  in  conse- 
quence of  the  very  warm  and  unseasonable  weather  in 
October  and  part  of  November,  the  very  early  sown 
fields,  of  course,  suffering  the  most." 

J.  S.  Gesner,  of  Canada  West,  in  a  prize  article  on 
the  culture  of  wheat,  says :  "I  have  found  the  last  week 
in  August  and  the  first  week  in  September,  to  be  the 
best  period  for  sowing  winter  wheat  in  this  locality.  It 
is  useless  to  sow  any  variety — except  the  Mediterranean 
— in  this  vicinity,  later  in  the  season  than  the  time  just 
mentioned." 

J.  Homes,  of  Chittenden,  Vermont,  writes  :  u  I  know 
of  no  better  mode  to  prevent  the  ravages  of  the  midge 
than  early  sowing,  and  even  this  sometimes  fails.  The 
last  week  in  August,  or  the  first  in  September,  I  would 
prefer,  but  this  depends  upon  circumstances ;  if  the 
weather  is  dry  and  hot,  I  would  rather  wait  until  Octo- 
ber. Some  years  since  I  made  an  experiment  to  test 
early  and  late  sowing.  One  piece  was  sowed  the  last 
week  in  August,  one  the  last  week  in  September,  and 
one  in  the  middle  of  October,  on  the  same  kind  of  soil, 
and  treated  in  every  respect  alike.  There  was  no  differ- 
ence in  the  time  of  ripening  or  in  the  quality  of  the 
grain  ;  but  the  earliest  sowed  produced  the  longest 
heads,  consequently  yielded  more  per  acre. 

Hon.  Isaac  Newton,  Commissioner  of  Agriculture, 
recorded  the  following  facts  touching  the  influence  of 


270  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

the  frosts  of  winter  on  wheat  that  was  sowed  at  differ- 
ent periods,  and  which  had  attained  greater  growth  in 
one  instance  than  in  the  other.  He  says  :  "  During  the 
winter,  the  first  or  September  sowing  of  thet  premium 
white  Mediterranean  wheat  withstood  the  winter  very 
badly,  and  during  the  severe  frost  in  the  month  of  Jan- 
uary, it  was  entirely  killed ;  whereas  the  same  wheat 
sown  in  October  withstood  the  winter  much  better  than 
the  red  bearded  Mediterranean  wheat,  kept  ahead  the 
whole  season,  and  was  harvested  on  the  27th  of  June. 
This  seems  to  be  a  wheat  well  adapted  to  this  climate, 
large  berry,  well  filled  and  thin  skinned ;  produced 
forty-eight  bushels  per  acre.  The  red  bearded  Mediter- 
ranean wheat  sown  in  October  did  not  stand  the  severe 
frost  so  well  as  the  same  kind  sown  in  September,  show- 
ing that  the  best  period  for  sowing  the  red  bearded 
Mediterranean  wheat  is  September,  and  for  the  premium 
white  Mediterranean,  from  Port  Mahon,  is  October. 
The  Tappahannock  wheat  has  been  the  earliest  of  all 
the  varieties  experimented  with,  although  it  does  not 
seem  to  be  so  productive  as  some  of  the  other  kinds  ; 
still  the  fine  quality  of  the  grain,  and  its  earliness,  is 
very  much  to  be  regarded,  as  an  early  variety  is  much 
less  liable  to  disease  and  other  contingencies." 

SOWING  SPRING  WHEAT  EARLY  vs.  LATE. 

I  have  observed,  for  many  years  past,  that  wheat-grow- 
ing farmers  seem  to  be  about  equally  divided,  touching  the 
best  time  to  sow  spring  wheat.  A  part  of  our  farmers 
contend  that  the  seed  should  be  put  in  very  early  in  the 
spring,  even  before  the  growing  season  has  really  com- 
menced. And  if  the  soil  is  not  sufficiently  dry,  plough 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUBIST.  271 

and  sow  in  the  mud,  rather  than  not  put  in  the  seed 
early.  On  the  contrary,  others  contend,  that  it  is  better 
to  put  in  the  seed  quite  late  in  the  season,  even  after 
sowing  oats  and  barley.  One  party  contends  that  spring 
wheat  should  be  put  in  before  the  ground  is  done  freez- 
ing and  thawing,  as  spring  frosts  greatly  improve  the 
productiveness  of  the  soil  and  increase  the  yield  of 
grain.  Others  insist  that  all  these  things  are  decidedly 
injurious  to  the  crop. 

I  think  the  abettors  of  these  theories  are  both  right 
and  both  wrong.  My  own  experience  leads  me  to  fix 
upon  an  intermediate  period  for  putting  in  spring  wheat. 

I  am  satisfied,  that  if  the  ground  be  put  in  order  soon 
after  the  growing  season  has  commenced — as  soon  as 
may  be  practicable  after  the  soil  has  become  sufficiently 
warm  to  cause  germination  and  growth — that  the  crop 
of  wheat  will  be  more  satisfactory,  than  if  the  seed  were 
sowed  very  early,  or  rather  late.  Whether  other  farm- 
ers will  admit  the  assertion  or  not,  I  am  satisfied  that 
cold,  frosty  weather  often  injures  young  wheat  plants, 
more  seriously  than  most  people  are  aware  of.  After 
the  young  plants  have  appeared,  and  a  cold,  stormy  pe- 
riod ensues,  the  leaves  turn  yellow,  cease  to  grow  for 
several  weeks,  become  stunted,  and  will  never  produce 
so  much  grain,  as  if  those  same  plants  had  received  no 
check  in  their  growth.  If  the  seed  be  put  in  late,  the 
growth  is  liable  to  be  too  rapid  and  too  luxuriant ;  and 
the  consequence  is,  that  the  crop  is  seldom  so  satisfac- 
tory, as  if  the  seeding  had  been  attended  to  a  few  days 
earlier  in  the  season.  Late  sowed  wheat  may — as  it 
often  has — succeeded  well ;  but  the  same  crop  would 
doubtless  have  been  much  better,  had  the  seed  been  put 
in  a  few  days  earlier.  I  do  not  think  that  the  advocates 


272  THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 

of  late  seeding  have  tested  the  result  of  seeding  earlier. 
As  their  land  produced  a  bountiful  crop,  they  conclude 
that  the  yield  is  heavier  than  it  would  have  been  if  the 
seed  had  been  sowed  at  a  former  period.  The  proof  of 
the  pudding  is  in  eating  it ;  and  not  in  chewing  the  string 
of  the  pudding  bag. 

EAELY  vs.  LATE  SEEDING  IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 

An  experienced  wheat-grower  in  Massachusetts  writes : 
"  I  never  had  any  luck  in  late  sowing  spring  wheat,  nor 
did  I  ever  see  a  good  piece,  sown  as  late  as  the  25th  of 
May.  Last  year  was  an  exception  to  late  sown  grain, 
which  we  seldom  have.  The  drought  injured  early  sown 
grain  full  as  much,  if  not  more,  than  late  sown  in  this 
section.  Even  our  late  planted  corn  was  a  larger  growth, 
and  was  perfectly  sound.  Late  sown  wheat  in  ordinary 
seasons,  will  not  be  as  plump  as  that  sown  early.  The 
straw  is  more  apt  to  be  weak  and  to  crinkle  down  by 
the  late  rains,  and  will  turn  black,  and  is  more  likely  to 
rust,  There  is  more  risk  in  harvesting,  to  get  it  in  a 
good  condition  for  the  mow.  Not  so  with  early  sown. 
The  kernel  is  plump,  the  head  well  filled,  the  straw 
bright  and  stiff ;  and  the  grain  will  thrash  a  great  deal 
easier ;  and  you  will  have  more  bushels  from  a  given 
quantity  of  ground.  The  earlier  it  is  sown,  if  the 
ground  is  dry  and  the  weather  suitable,  the  better.  I 
had  rather  my  wheat  would  be  sown  the  25th  of  March 
if  it  could  be  got  in  as  early,  than  to  be  put  oft'  till  the 
25th  of  May.  We  have  had  a  heavy  freeze  on  early  sown 
wheat,  and  no  detriment  at  all.  The  25th  of  April, 
and  from  that  to  the  5th  of  May,  is,  in  my  opinion,  the 
best  time  to  sow  spring  wheat." 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  273 

A  correspondent  of  the  "  Eural  New  Yorker"  wrote  on 
this  subject :  "  The  reason  why  spring  wheat  growing  is 
attended  with  such  ill  success  in  Western  New  York  is 
that  the  fallow  was  not  fall  ploughed,  and  consequently 
is  sown  too  late  in  the  spring."  The  great  secret  of 
success  in  growing  a  bountiful  crop  of  spring  wheat  is 
the  proper  management  of  the  soil,  the  main  point  being 
to  plough  and  fallow  in  the  fall,  or  before  the  ground 
is  too  hard  frozen  in  winter,  so  that  the  wheat  may  be 
sown  as  early  in  April  as  the  spring  rains  will  admit. 

Many  farmers  who  succeeded  so  early  in  growing  a 
crop  of  wheat  from  the  scarified  virgin  soil  in  the  early 
days  of  Western  New  York,  now  think  that  the  deteri- 
oration in  that  cereal  is  owing  to  the  exhaustion  of  a 
mysterious  pabulum  in  the  soil.  Yet,  to  grow  a  good 
crop  of  barley,  requires  a  finer  tilth  and  a  less  adhesive 
soil  than  for  wheat. 

J.  B.  Lawes,  the  prince  of  England's  experimenters 
on  the  farm,  avers  "  that  he  could  supply  fertilizers  to 
the  wheat  fallow  to  produce  a  given  crop  of  wheat  to 
the  acre,  subject  only  to  the  risk  of  hail  and  violent 
storms."  But  in  England  the  wheat  plant  rarely  if  ever 
freezes  out,  as  it  often  does  in  winter  and  early  spring 
in  the  United  States,  California  and  the  South  excepted. 
It  is  the  freezing  out  of  this  plant  that  prevents  the 
western  farmers  of  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  and  Iowa  from 
sowing  winter  wheat.  But  they  have  reduced  the  sow- 
ing of  spring  wheat,  as  a  substitute,  into  a  perfect  sys- 
tem that  rarely  fails  to  succeed  if  well  done.  (Read  my 
notes  about  spring  wheat  under  the  last  heading  of  the 
second  chapter  of  this  book,  and  How  Freezing  and 
Thawing  of  the  Soil  injures  Growing  Wheat,  pages  123, 
124,  and  125. ) 

12* 


THE  WHEAT  CULTURIST. 

THICK  AND  THIN  SEEDING. 

Wheat  can  be  sowed  too  thick  as  well  as  too  th.n. 
Of  course,  then,  there  is  a  correct  quantity  to  §ow  per 
acre,  as  there  must  necessarily  be  a  medium  between  the 
thick  seeding  and  thin  seeding.  The  quantity  of  seed 
alone  does  not  determine  how  much  should  be  sown  on 
one  acre,  as  the  kernels  vary  in  size.  If  the  kernels  be 
very  large,  a  much  larger  quantity  of  seed  will  be  re 
quired  to  seed  an  acre,  than  if  the  kernels  were  very 
small.  There  is  more  danger  of  sowing  too  much  seed 
on  an  acre,  than  there  is  of  scattering  too  little.  When 
wheat  is  sowed  too  thin,  provision  has  been  made  by 
nature,  to  send  out  numerous  steins,  from  the  single 
plants  that  spring  from  every  kernel.  (See  this  subject 
explained  under  the  head  of  the  Habit  of  the  Wheat 
Plant.)  Seed  w^heat  is  often  sowed  in  such  absurdly 
large  quantities,  per  acre,  that  the  soil  does  not  yield 
but  a  little  more  than  half  the  number  of  bushels  that 
would  have  been  produced,  had  just  enough  been  sowed 
and  no  more.  It  is  exceedingly  unwise  policy  to  sow 
wheat,  or  any  other  grain  thick,  for  the  purpose  of 
smothering  a  dense  growth  of  noxious  plants. 

J.  J.  Mechi,  of  England,  who  has  had  much  experi- 
ence in  growing  wheat,  writes,  that  "one  kernel  in  a  hole, 
at  intervals  of  nine  inches  by  four,  would,  under  favor- 
able circumstances,  be  ample,  and  produce  much  more 
than  if  four  times  that  number  were  sown ;  but  then  we 
have  rooks,French  partridges,  birds,  mice,  and  wireworms 
to  contend  with."  It  would  be  a  very  dangerous  experi- 
ment to  sow  generally  so  small  a  quantity  of  seed  as 
one  peck  per  acre.  In  highly  cultivated,  warm,  mellow 
soils,  free  from  weeds  and  in  good  heart,  where  harvest  is 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST.  275 

ready  by  the  first  of  August  or  earlier,  sucli  small  quan 
titles  may  be  sown,  provided  the  sowing  is  done  early. 

Thin  sowing  is  the  first  cause  of  large  and  vigorous 
ears  to  select  from.  On  this  point,  there  can  be  no 
mistake,  seeing  that  thick  sowing  has  an  exactly  reverse 
effect,  diminishing  and  crippling  the  growth  of  the  ear, 
until,  with  extreme  quantities,  there  is  scarcely  a  good 
kernel,  or  a  good  ear.  Therefore,  in  order  to  get  good 
ears  to  select  from,  or  to  be  certain  of  the  largest  possible 
yield  of  grain,  sow  only  a  moderate  quantity  per  acre.  I 
think  that  every  intelligent  wheat-grower  will  agree  with 
me,  that  thin  sowing  has  quite  as  much  or  more  to  do 
with  a  large  product  of  superior  grain,  as  the  choice  of 
a  prolific  variety.  ~No  rule  can  be  laid  down  that  will 
serve  as  a  reliable  guide  for  farmers  in  various  portions  of 
the  country  in  determining  the  quantity  of  wheat  per  acre. 
For  this  reason,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  state  how  much 
this  farmer,  or  that  wheat-grower,  should  sow  per  acre. 
In  a  letter  dated  June  27th,  Mr.  M.  says : 
"  I  related  last  year  that  a  peck  of  seed  wheat  per  acre, 
dibbled  at  intervals  of  about  4^-  inches,  one  kernel  in  a 
hole,  produced  fifty-eight  bushels  of  heavy  wheat  per  acre, 
and  2f  tons  of  straw  ;  in  fact,  the  thickest  and  heaviest 
crop  of  corn  and  straw  on  my  farm.  It  was  seen  at 
various  periods  of  its  growth  by  many  agricultural  and 
other  visitors.  During  winter,  a  single  stem  only  hav- 
ing appeared  from  each  kernel,  the  land  at  a  distance 
appeared  as  if  unsown,  and  we  were  often  asked  why  we 
had  omitted  to  drill  that  particular  portion  of  the  field. 
In  the  spring  each  stem  radiated  its  shoots  horizontally, 
to  the  extent  in  some  instances  of  thirty  to  forty-eight 
stems,  and  ultimately  became  the  best  crop  on  the  farm, 
and,  which  is  often  convenient  in  harvesting,  about 


270  THE    WHEAT    CULTLTKIST. 

four  days  later  than  the  thick  sown  put  in,  in  October, 
at  the  same  time  as  the  rest  of  the  field  was  drilled  with 

..one  bushel  per  acre.  In  October  last,  rather  late  in  the 
month,  we  repeated  the  experiment  on  a  heavy-land 
clover  lea,  as  last  year.  The  ground  was  rough  and 
hard,  and  very  dry,  and  although  a  kernel  was  placed  in 
each  hole,  only  about  one-half,  or  half  a  peck  per  acre, 
came  up.  Of  course  we  anticipated  a  partial  failure, 
but  spring  came,  and  each  stem  threw  out  horizontally 
a  large  number  of  shoots,  so  that  now  it  is  admitted  by 
all  who  see  it  that  it  will  exceed  in  produce  the  adjoin- 
ing crop,  drilled  at  one  bushel  per  acre.  It  appears  to 
be  about  four  or  five  days  later  than  the  rest." 

After  inviting  all  interested  to  come  and  examine  this 
crop  for  themselves,  Mr.  M.  concludes  :  "  According 
to  Mr.  Caird,  the  average  increase  of  our  corn  crops  is 
eight  for  one — one  million  quarters  of  seed  to  produce 
nine  millions  of  corn  !  This  is  discreditable  to  us,  for 
surely  one  good  seed  in  properly  cultivated  soil  cannot 
produce  so  little,  if  it  be  allowed  sufficient  space  to  de- 

^velopits  growth.  Forty  to  one  is  nearer  the  increase 
on  my  farm." 

QUANTITY  OF  SEED  PEE  ACKE. 

The  quantity  of  wheat  sowed  on  an  acre  by  one 
farmer,  is  no  guide  at  all  to  his  neighbor,  unless  the 
soil  is  similar  in  all  respects,  and  the  period  of  seeding 
about  the  same.  Rich  land  does  not  require  so  large  a 
quantity  as  poor  ground.  When  the  kernels  are  large, 
the  quantity  of  seed  must  be  increased  ;  and  when  they 
are  small,  the  amount  may  be  diminished,  and  still  have 
just  as  many  stalks  on  an  acre.  Kernels  of  wheat  vary 


1HE    WHEAT   CULTUK1ST.  277 

so  much  in  size  that  figures  expressing  the  number  of 
grains  in  a  bushel  only  mislead  and  confuse  a  beginner. 
I  have  in  mind  one  farmer  who  counted  the  number  of 
kernels  in  a  quart  of  wheat ;  and  from  the  number  in 
one  quart  estimated  the  number  of  grains  in  a  bushel  to 
be  559,288.  Another  man  made  660,000  kernels  in  one 
American  bushel  of  wheat ;  and  another  690,960. 

I  have  raised  excellent  wheat  where  only  one  bushel 
of  seed  was  sowed  per  acre.  My  practice  was  to  sow 
two  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre ;  and  to  drill  in  one  and 
a  half  bushels  per  acre.  In  some  instances,  I  was  satis- 
lied  that  the  grain  stood  rather  too  thick  on  the  ground. 
If  the  ground  is  rich,  one  bushel  per  acre,  if  put  in 
evenly  with  a  good  drill,  is  all  the  seed  that  should  be 
put  on  one  acre.  Every  farmer  should  try  experiments, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  how  much  seed  will  yield 
the  largest  amount  of  grain  per  acre.  If  he  can  satisfy 
himself  that  he  can  secure  a  large  yield  by  putting  two 
bushels  of  seed  on  one  acre,  that  is  the  quantity  for  him 
to  sow.  The  quantity  of  seed  varies,  the  country 
through.  Very  few  farmers  sow  three  bushels  of  seed 
per  acre ;  and  fewer  still  sow  only  one  bushel.  The 
majority,  I  think,  sow  or  drill  in  about  one  and  a  half 
bushels  per  acre.  Observe  the  quantity  of  seed  per 
acre,  as  stated  by  the  various  authors  of  letters  on  the 
culture  of  wheat  in  various  parts  of  the  country  in  our 
agricultural  periodicals. 

The  most  sensible  way  to  arrive  at  a  correct  conclu- 
sion on  this  subject,  is,  to  weigh  the  grain  that  grows 
on  a  square  yard,  where  the  straw  seems  to  stand  very 
thick  as  well  as  where  it  is  thin.  Every  farmer  must 
study  out  the  correct  quantity  of  seed  for  his  own  soil. 

In  order  to  aid  beginners  in  their  investigations  of 


278  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

this  subject,  I  herewith  give  a  table  which  was  prepaied 
a  few  years  ago,  for  "Facts  for  Farmers." 

Grains  per  Kernels  ^.er  r     . 

square  foot.  square  yard.  Grams  Pf acre' 

4 36 174,240=1  peck. 

8 72  .......       34S,480=2  pecks. 

12 108 522,720=3  pecks. 

16 144 696,960=4  pecks. 

32 288  ......  1,393,420=8  pecks. 

48 432 2,090,880=3  bushels. 

64 576 2,787,840=4  bushels. 

80 720 3,428,800=5  bushels. 

If  a  square  foot  be  divided  into  four  equal  parts,  and 
one  kernel  of  wheat  be  planted  in  the  middle  of  each 
section,  if  the  wheat  be  of  ordinary  size,  it  will  require 
about  one  peck  of  grain  per  acre.  By  dividing  each 
square  foot  into  sixteen  sections,  three  inches  square, 
and  planting  one  kernel  in  the  centre  of  each  section, 
about  one  bushel  of  seed  will  be  required  per  acre. 
But,  if  seed  wheat  were  drilled  in  or  sowed  broadcast, 
as  thick  as  this  estimate,  the  growing  plants  will  be 
found  to  stand  as  thickly  as  they  should  be  in  order  to 
grow  advantageously,  and  yield  abundantly. 

The  beginner  can  enlarge,  at  pleasure,  on  these  sug- 
gestions, as  everything  seems  to  be  quite  indefinite, 
after  making  our  most  satisfactory  estimates. 


WHAT  BECOMES  OF  THE  SEED. 

Intelligent  cultivators  of  soil,  from  time  immemorial, 
have  asked  this  question  with  much  solicitude.  From 
my  early  boyhood,  to  the  present  time,  I  have  been  on 
the  lookout  for  a  philosophical  answer  to  this  inquiry ; 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  279 

but  have  met  with  none.  I  shall  attempt  to  give  $i  phi- 
losophical, and  I  trust,  a  satisfactory  answer.  Farmers 
do  know  one  thing,  concerning  which  there  is  no  guess- 
work— no  uncertainty — which  is,  that  all  the  seed  sown 
does  not  grow.  Therefore,  what  becomes  of  it,  is  an 
important  inquiry. 

A  portion  of  seed  wheat  never  germinates ;  because 
the  germ  of  some  of  the  kernels  has  been  injured,  and 
thus  deprived  of  all  vitality.  Kernels  of  wheat  are  in- 
jured, sometimes  when  the  grain  is  thrashed ;  and  in 
numerous  instances,  the  kernels  sprout  before  the  grain 
is  garnered.  The  tender  sprouts  perish  in  the  sunshine, 
when  the  wheat  is  dried ;  but  the  kernels  appear  changed 
little,  if  any.  Yet,  the  germs  are  destroyed.  Of  course, 
if  such  grain  be  employed  for  seed,  it  never  comes  up. 
Much  of  the  good  seed  also  never  comes  up,  for  the  fol- 
lowing reasons :  In  some  instances,  the  grain  is  buried 
so  deep,  that  the  substance  of  the  kernels  which  pro- 
duces the  stem,  is  all  exhausted,  before  reaching  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground.  Of  course,  all  such  kernels  will, 
never  come  up.  Some  other  kernels  are  deposited  in 
an  unfavorable  place,  surrounded  with  lumps  and  stones, 
where  they  sprout,  but  fail  to  grow.  Birds  pick  up  a 
share  before  the  grain  is  buried  in  the  seed-bed.  In- 
sects take  a  share ;  and  where  several  kernels  happen 
to  be  planted  so  closely  together  that  all  cannot  grow, 
for  want  of  space,  a  portion  of  the  young  plants  must 
cease  to  grow,  and  at  length  fail  and  die.  The  young 
leaves  of  wheat,  soon  after  they  appear  above  ground, 
are  very  tender  and  good  for  birds  of  various  kinds, 
which  often  bite  off  large  numbers  of  the  stems,  close 
to  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Such  plants  seldom  re- 
cover from  the  injury  thus  received.  In  numerous 


2SO  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

instances,  a  thousand  crows,  or  pigeons,  descend  on  a 
field  of  wheat,  and  destroy  one  fourth  part  of  the  young 
plants.  Domestic  fowls  are  frequently  allowed  to  range 
over  wheat  fields,  when  they  destroy  plants  sufficient  to 
make  bushels  of  grain.  I  might  mention  other  maraud- 
ers that  commit  depredations  on  the  growing  wheat. 
But  these  must  suffice. 


How  TO  RAISE  EARLY  GRAIN  OR  VEGETABLES. 

On  the  subject  of  raising  plants  that  mature  early,  a 
practical  farmer  wrote  in  the  "  Independent "  as  follows : 

In  localities  where  seasons  are  comparatively  short — 
where  late  frost  is  liable  to  cut  down  the  young  plants, 
and  early  frost  to  damage  the  fruit  or  grain — it  is  of 
great  importance  that  seed  for  future  crops  be  raised  and 
secured  with  great  care.  It  will  require  the  exercise  of 
much  good  care  for  many  successive  years  to  effect  any 
remarkably  good  change  in  any  crop  with  reference  to 
its  early  maturity.  But,  on  the  contrary,  by  exercising 
no  care,  it  will  be  easy  to  manage  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  have  plants  mature  very  late  in  the  season,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  yield  an  inferior  crop.  If  we  desire 
to  have  crops  ripen  early,  we  may  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  our  efforts  to  secure  such  a  result  crowned  with 
good  success.  But  if  that  is  a  subject  which  gives  us 
but  little  anxiety,  our  contented  desires  will  be  satisfied 
by  seeing  our  crops  come  to  maturity  long  after  our 
enterprising  neighbors  have  harvested  their  fields  of 
grain. 

Now,  if  we  desire  to  raise  early  grain,  or  early  vege- 
tables of  any  kind,  we  must  select  the  seed  that  ripens 
the  very  first.  The  first  ripe  panicles  of  carrot  seed  and 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  281 

parsnip  seed,  the  first  ripe  pods  of  beans,  peas,  or  other 
leguminous  plants,  and  the  first  ripe  pods  of  turnip  seed, 
if  selected  carefully  every  year,  will  effect  a  very  desir- 
able improvement  in  the  crop,  both  in  its  excellence  as 
to  quantity  and  quality,  as  well  as  in  the  period  of  early 
maturity.  But  by  planting  the  half-ripe  and  late  seed 
the  crop  will  degenerate  very  rapidly. 

By  planting  only  a  small  part  of  the  seed-end  of  pota- 
toes for  several  successive  seasons  where  they  will  receive 
the  best  of  cultivation,  a  kind  of  potato  may  be  pro- 
duced that  will  be  fit  to  dig  several  weeks  before  those 
potatoes  would  mature  that  are  treated  in  the  usual  way. 
These  considerations  hold  good  concerning  the  entire 
vegetable  kingdom ;  and  the  young  farmer  may  avail 
himself  of  very  great  advantages  arising  from  them,  if 
he  will  commence  in  good  time.  By  saving  the  first 
ripe  seed  from  year  to  year,  all  our  early  vegetables  and 
grain  have  been  brought  to  their  present  excellence ;  and 
if  the  first  ripe  seed  be  not  carefully  saved  from  year  to 
year,  we  cannot  reasonably  expect  our  crops  will  ripen 
early,  nor  remunerate  us  for  the  labor  bestowed  in  their 
cultivation. 


SUGGESTIONS  ABOUT  SEED  WHEAT. 

No  farmer  can  reasonably  expect  to  raise  a  bountiful 
crop  of  superior  wheat  from  inferior  seed,  even  if  his  soil 
be  well  adapted  to  the  production  of  this  kind  of  cereal 
grain,  having  been  fertilized  and  cultivated  in  the  most 
thorough  manner.  The  legitimate  tendency  of  every 
seed  possessing  vitality,  in  the  vegetable  as  well  as  in 
the  animal  kingdom,  is  to  produce  others  like  itself;  and 
it  is  not  a  common  occurrence  for  animals  to  beget,  or 


282  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

for  seeds  to  produce  others  of  their  kind,  superior  -to 
themselves ;  for  it  is  not  practicable  for  animals  or  plants 
to  transmit  to  their  offspring  excellent  characteristics 
and  qualities  which  they  never  possessed,  and  which  have 
not  been  common  to  their  progenitors. 

Excellent  wheat  may  be  raised  from  shrunken  kernels 
of  inferior  size,  by  selecting  the  best  grains  for  seed  for 
several  successive  seasons.  Yet  the  improvement  in 
grain  the  first  season  will  be  hardly  perceptible.  Wheat, 
as  well  as  Indian  corn,  will  hybridize  when  different 
varieties  are  grown  in  close  proximity ;  and,  though  a 
mongrel  grain  may  yield  as  many  bushels  per  acre  as  a 
pure  kind  of  seed,  still  such  seed  will  not  be  so  good  for 
producing  another  crop  as  if  the  grain  had  not  been 
mixed.  For  this  reason,  mixed  grain  should  be  rejected 
for  seed;  and  none  sowed  except  such  kinds  as  have 
been  grown  with  great  care  for  several  successive 
seasons.  That  farmer  who  practises  selecting  his  seed 
wheat  from  year  to  year,  as  most  people  gather  their 
Indian  corn  which  is  designed  for  seed  the  next  season, 
will  always  raise  more  bountiful  crops  of  better  grain 
than  he  could  produce  on  the  same  soil,  with  cultivation 
equally  as  good,  by  using  seed  that  has  not  been  saved 
with  special  reference  to  a  future  crop.  When  a  large 
crop  of  wheat  is  all  thrashed  together,  the  grain  of  the 
small,  half-ripe  heads  is  by  no  means  suitable  for  seed. 
For  this  reason,  many  farmers  meet  with  great  disap- 
pointment in  their  crop  of  spring  wheat.  They  sowed 
poor,  half-ripe,  shrunken  kernels,  with  the  confident  ex- 
pectation that  the  yield  of  new  grain  would  most 
assuredly  be  of  a  superior  quality. 

If  seed  wheat  is  only  of  a  common  quality,  with  many 
inferior  kernels  among  the  grain,  before  seed-time,  the 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUEIST.  283 

whole  of  it  should  be  run  through  a  good  fanning-mill, 
having  sieves  and  screens  with  meshes  of  suitable  size  to 
separate  the  large  kernels  from  the  small  ones,  as  the 
latter  will  yield  quite  as  good  flour,  although  such  grain 
is  not  so  good  for  seed. 

In  every  plant  of  wheat,  barley,  or  oats,  there  is 
always  one  best  ear,  and  in  every  ear  there  is  always  one 
best  grain,  which  is  that  one  found  at  the  following 
harvest  to  produce  the  best  plant,  all  the  grains  having 
been  planted  in  competition  with  each  other. 

The  best  of  all  the  competing  plants  of  any  "  family" 
of  a  cereal  is  ascertained  by  the  most  studious  comparison 
of  the  good  qualities  they  visibly  present,  and  of  the 
notes  of  the  peculiarities  exhibited  by  each  during  the 
whole  course  of  its  growth,  such  as — the  rapidity  with 
which  the  parent  seed  germinates ;  the  manner,  time, 
and  extent  of  the  "tillering"  of  the  plant;  the  periods 
of  its  earing,  blooming,  and  ripening ;  its  power  of  with- 
standing disease,  frost,  wet ;  the  toughness  of  its  straw, 
and  any  other  characteristics  which  are  essential  to  form- 
ing a  correct  decision,  and  which,  cannot  be  determined, 
except  by  a  careful  observation  of  the  plant  during  its 
entire  growth,  until  the  grain  is  fully  matured. 

We  very  frequently  discover  a  head  of  wheat,  a  few 
panicles  of  oats,  a  few  pods  of  peas,  and  such-like,  which 
have  come  to  maturity,  while  the  great  bulk  of  the  crop 
remains  quite  green.  Now,  could  this  seed  be  carefully 
preserved  and  planted  by  itself,  we  should  perceive  a 
decided  improvement  in  the  next  crop,  not  only  in  the 
time  of  maturing,  but  in  the  superior  quality  of  the  grain 
or  vegetables  which  sprang  from  the  seed.  Were 
farmers  of  our  country  to  practise  saving  their  seed 
grain,  the  wealth  of  the  nation  might  be  doubled. 


284  THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURIST. 


THE  PROPER  DEPTH  TO  COVER  WHEAT. 

I  believe  that  every  intelligent  farmer  will  admit  that 
wheat  may  be  sowed  too  shallow,  as  well  as  too  deep. 
A  thinner  covering  is  required  in  a  close  heavy  soil,  than 
in  one  light,  gravelly,  or  sandy.  The  following  experi- 
ments were  made  by  Petri,  the  results  of  which  would 
vary  with  the  moisture  or  dryness  of  the  soil.  They 
are  given  as  a  specimen  of  trials  of  this  kind,  which  if 
often  repeated  by  farmers,  would  afford  them  much  val- 
uable information : 

Seed  sown  to  Appeared  above  Number  of  plants 

a  depth  of  ground  in  that  came  up. 

1-2  inch 11  days 7-8ths. 

1  "  ......  12  " all. 

2  " 18  " 7-8ths. 

3  " 20  " 6-8ths. 

4  " 21  ".......  1-2. 

5  " 22  " 3-8ths. 

6  " 23  " l-8th. 

Judging  from  the  unusually  great  length  of  time  here 
recorded  for  the  plants  in  the  foregoing  experiments  to 
come  up,  I  think  the  seed  must  have  been  sowed  in 
very  dry  ground,  or  the  weather  must  have  been  very 
cold,  as  it  is  extremely  uncommon  for  wheat,  or  any 
other  grain,  when  planted  under  circumstances  at  all 
favorable  to  vegetation,  to  be  so  long  coming  up.  Un- 
der favorable  circumstances,  wheat  will  come  up  in  six 
or  eight  days ;  and  in  warm  weather,  where  the  soil  is 
tolerably  moist,  wheat  will  come  up  in  one  week,  and 
make  leaves  so  large  that  the  field  will  appear  quite 
green. 

In  order  to  test  the  comparative  influence  of  plant 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST.  285 

ing  seed  deep  and  shallow,  on  the  germination  of  wheat, 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1867,  I  instituted  the  following  ex- 
periment :  I  planted  eight  rows  of  wheat,  a  few  inches 
apart,  with  fourteen  kernels  in  each  row.  The  ground 
was  in  only  a  moderate  degree  of  fertility,  and  mellow- 
ness. A  dibble  about  as  large  as  ^ny  little  finger  was 
marked  oiF  with  cuts  one  inch  apart,  from  one  inch  to 
eight.  Fourteen  holes  were  made  one  inch  deep,  into 
each  of  which  a  kernel  of  grain  was  dropped,  and  the 
holes  filled  with  mellow  soil.  The  kernels  in  the  sec- 
ond row,  fourteen  in  number,  were  planted,  or  dibbled 
two  inches  deep.  The  same  number  of  kernels  was 
planted  three  inches  deep,  in  the  third  row.  The  fourth 
row  of  fourteen  kernels  was  four  inches  deep.  The 
fifth  row,  five  inches  deep.  The  sixth  row,  six  inches 
in  depth.  The  seventh,  seven  inches  deep;  and  the 
fourteen  kernels  in  the  eighth  row,  were  dropped  in 
holes  eight  inches  deep ;  and  all  the  holes  were  filled 
with  mellow  soil ;  and  every  evening,  the  surface  was 
moistened  with  water  from  a  rose-spout  watering-pot. 
]STow  for  the  result : 

On  the  morning  of  July  llth,  four  spears  had  ap- 
peared in  the  first  row,  where  the  kernels  were  planted 
one  inch  deep ;  and  before  night,  those  four  stems  were 
each  more  than  one  inch  high.  July  12th,  in  the  morn- 
ing, two  spears  more,  in  number  one,  were  half  an  inch 
high.  In  numbers  two  and  three,  the  same  morning, 
there  were  two  spears  ir.  each ;  and  one  spear  in  number 
two,  more  than  an  inch  high.  On  the  morning  of  the 
13th,  there  were  ten  spears  in  number  one;  four  in 
number  two ;  six  in  number  three ;  and  two  spears  in 
number  four.  In  number  three  one  spear  was  three 
inches  high.  At  sunset  of  the  same  day,  this  last  spear 


286  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

was  five  inches  high,  having  grown  two  inches  in  length 
between  sunrise  and  sunset.  In  number  five,  at  sun- 
down, of  the  13th  of  July,  one  spear  of  wheat  had  come 
up,  after  sunrise,  and  had  grown  two  inches  tigh.  In 
number  six,  one  spear  had  grown  one  inch  high  during 
the  day.  On  the  14th  of  July,  in  number  one,  there  were 
eleven  spears ;  in  number  two,  there  were  seven ;  in 
number  three,  eight  spears ;  in  number  four,  five  spears ; 
in  number  five,  three  spears ;  in  number  six,  two  spears. 
On  the  morning  of  the  15th,  one  spear  more  appeared 
in  number  one ;  one  more  in  number  four ;  and  one 
more  in  number  six. 

It  will  be  seen  by  this  diary,  which  I  recorded  with 
my  own  pen,  that  none  of  the  grain  was  over  eight  days 
in  coming  up.  After  waiting  for  more  than  two  weeks 
for  the  plants  in  number  seven,  planted  seven  inches 
deep,  and  those  in  number  eight,  deposited  eight  inches 
below  the  surface,  I  removed  the  soil  carefully,  and 
found  a  few  of  the  stems  nearly  ready  to  appear  above 
the  surface  of  the  seed-bed.  But,  out  of  the  twenty- 
eight  kernels  that  were  planted,  half  of  them  seven,  and 
the  other  half  eight  inches  deep,  not  a  vestige  could  be 
found  of  only  four,  the  stems  of  which  were  exceeding- 
ly feeble  and  slender ;  and  for  lack  of  material  to  form 
the  stem  from  the  kernel  to  the  surface,  vegetation 
ceased,  and  the  stems  died.  What  ever  became  of  the 
other  kernels,  seems  to  be  a  mystery. 

But  the  experiment  demonstrated  one  point,  most 
conclusively,  namely,  that  if  seed  wheat  be  buried  too 
deep,  the  kernels  may  germinate.  But  there  will  not  be 
sufficient  material  in  the  grain  to  form  a  healthful  and 
strong  stem  to  the  surface  of  the  ground.  It  matters 
not,  what  becomes  of  seed  planted  seven  or  eight  inches 


THE   WHEAT   CIJLTTIRIST.  287 

deep.  Experience  proves  that  such  grain  seldom  comes 
up.  This  suggests  the  fallacy  of  plonghing-in  seed  wheat, 
as  much  of  the  seed  will  be  buried  so  deep  that  the 
stems  can  never  reach  the  surface  of  the  ground. 

Winter  grain  of  all  kinds,  will  endure  the  influences 
of  the  freezing  arid  thawing  of  the  soil  with  far  less  in- 
jury to  the  growing  plants  if  the  seed  be  put  in  shallow, 
rather  than  deep.  I  have  endeavored  to  make  this  sub- 
ject intelligible,  under  the  head  of  Injury  to  Wheat 
Plants  by  Freezing  and  Thawing,  on  page  126. 

CULTURE  OF  SPRING  WHEAT. 

There  are  many  erroneous  impressions  touching  the 
culture  of  spring  wheat,  which  I  desire  to  correct.  But, 
I  don't  know  as  I  can  do  it.  And,  I  believe  I  shall  not 
make  much  of  an  effort  to  induce  men  to  think,  that 
spring  wheat  will  grow  luxuriantly,  and  yield  satisfac- 
torily, where  a  crop  of  winter  wheat  can  be  produced. 
But  I  know  this  to  be  a  fact,  notwithstanding  it  has  been 
controverted,  by  some  intelligent  farmers.  More  than 
this,  I  know  that  under  certain  circumstances,  a  bounti- 
ful crop  of  spring  wheat  can  be  produced,  where  the 
land,  in  its  present  condition,  would  not  yield  a  crop  of 
winter  wheat  worth  harvesting.  I  record  it  as  a  rule 
then,  that  wherever  the  land  will  produce  a  crop  of  win- 
ter wheat,  spring  wheat  may  be  grown  most  satisfacto- 
rily. 

Touching  the  subject  of  the  culture  of  spring  wheat, 
the  editor  of  the  "  Prairie  Farmer  "  writes  that  "  spring 
wheat  in  the  Northwest  is  comparatively  a  modern 
crop.  Spring- wheat  flour  has  one  never-failing  char- 
acteristic to  distinguish  it  from  that  of  winter  wheat : 


288  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

the  dough  is  soft,  and  requires  much  more  kneading 
than  that  of  winter  wheat ;  this  occurs  from  the  fact 
that  it  contains  more  gluten  than  the  latter,  and  conse- 
quently less  starch ;  it  being  thus  more  highly  jritrogen- 
ized,  is  very  valuable  for  food,  perhaps  more  so  than 
winter  wheat.  The  yellow  cast  to  some  specimens  of 
flour  is  due  to  bearded  wheat,  as  the  bald  varieties  pro- 
duce white  flour.  The  excess  of  gluten  gives  the  bread 
a  more  brown  appearance  than  the  winter  wheat,  which 
is  nearly  pure  starch. 

"  It  may  be  interesting  to  many  of  our  readers  to  look 
a  little  into  the  history  of  spring  wheat  as  used,  or  its 
culture.  Strictly  speaking,  we  have  no  natural  spring 
wheat;  the  variety  that  is  called  such  is  simply  an 
artificial  variety  of  winter  wheat  that  can  be  readily 
changed  back  to  its  normal  condition.  It  is  well  to  un- 
derstand this  fact,  for  upon  it  much  may  depend.  In 
the  culture  of  spring  wheat  the  nearer  approach  we 
make  to  treating  it  as  a  biennial  the  better  will  be  the 
crop.  To  do  this,  the  plant  must  undergo  a  rest — that 
is,  at  some  early  period  of  its  growth  it  should  come  to 
a  stand  for  a  short  period.  This  answers  to  the  natural 
condition  of  the  plant. 

"  Previous  to  1834,  little  attention  was  paid  to  this 
trait  in  the  habit  of  the  plant,  most  farmers  taking  it 
for  granted  that  spring  wheat  was  as  distinct  from  that 
of  winter  as  an  annual  was  from  a  biennial.  A  little 
reflection  would,  however,  show  this  folly.  Was  spring 
wheat  an  annual  it  would  produce  good  crops  when 
sown  later  in  the  season,  say  through  the  month  of  April, 
or  after  frost  has  ceased  to  harden  the  surface.  But  we 
all  know  that  to  produce  a  good  crop  we  must  sow  as 
soon  as  the  frost  begins  to  come  out,  even  if  we  sow  in 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTURIST. 

the  mud ;  it  is  not  safe  to  wait  until  the  ground  settles. 
Should  a  cold  snap  come  so  as  to  freeze  the  ground  a 
foot  deep,  all  the  better;. the  wheat  will  come  forward 
with  more  vigor,  and  produce  a  better  crop — in  fact, 
the  crop  can  be  sown  just  as  it  freezes  up  in  December, 
or  at  any  time  when  the  ground  is  thawed  to  the  depth 
of  two  inches,  in  January  or  February.  The  oat,  which 
is  strictly  an  annual,  cannot  be  treated  in  this  manner, 
neither  can  any  other  annual  farm  crop.  It  is  true  that 
some  of  the  seeds  of  annual  grains  will  remain  sound 
through  the  winter,  but  should  they  be  started  by  warm 
weather,  the  plants  die.  Not  so  of  spring  wheat  when 
sown ;  cold  and  warm  weather  follows  so  as  to  sprout 
the  seed ;  the  plants  live  through  the  winter,  and  thus 
return  to  the  normal  condition.  This  lets  us  into  the 
secret  of  the  success  of  the  early  sown  spring  wheat, 
giving  it,  to  a  great  extent,  the  condition  of  a  biennial 
plant.  The  occasional  freezing  spells  that  occur  after 
germinating  arrest  growth  for  a  time,  giving  it  a  sort  of 
hybernation  answering  all  the  purposes  of  a  long  winter 
without  subjecting  the  plant  to  sudden  changes  after 
the  roots  have  run  deep  into  the  soil,  as  in  the  case  with 
winter  wheat  sown  in  August  or  September,  the  break- 
ing of  which  destroys  the  plant."  (See  page  126.) 

THE  DIFFERENCE  EXPLAINED. 

The  foregoing  suggestions  are  orthodox;  yet,  they 
need  a  little  explanation.  The  young  plants  of  certain 
varieties  of  spring  wheat,  are  as  tender  as  growing  oats, 
and  frost  will  injure  them  as  soon  and  as  severely,  as 
freezing  will  damage  young  oat  plants.  This  applies  to 
such  spring  wheat  as  has  been  so  thoroughly  changed 

13 


290  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

from  a  winter,  to  a  spring  grain  that  the  plants  will  not 
endure  severe  freezing.  Spring  wheat  of  this  charac- 
ter, should  never  be  sowed  until  the  ground  has  become 
thoroughly  warmed.  This  accounts  for  the  fact,  that  in 
numerous  instances,  certain  farmers  have  always  had 
better  success  when  they  have  sowed  their  spring  wheat 
quite  late  in  the  spring.  On  the  contrary,  when  a  va- 
riety of  spring  wheat  is  still  so  much  of  a  winter  wheat, 
that  freezing  does  not  injure  the  young  plants  in  the 
spring,  the  seed  should  be  put  in  as  early  as  practica- 
ble ;  and  the  crop  will  be  the  better  for  early  seeding. 

These  thoughts  will  explain  why  it  is  best  to  sow 
spring  wheat  very  late,  sometimes  /  and  early  in  the 
growing  season,  at  other  times.  A  farmer  must  know 
his  seed — of  what  sort  it  is.  Then,  he  must  understand, 
most  thoroughly,  the  habit  of  growth,  and  how  far  the 
variety  has  been  changed  from  a  winter  to  a  spring 
grain.  When  he  possesses  a  perfect  understanding  of 
these  points,  he  will  experience  very  little  difficulty  in 
growing  fair  crops  of  spring  wheat,  provided  his  seed  is 
right.  (Head  pages  170  and  171.) 

MOKROE'S  ROTARY  HARROW. 

The  harrow  herewith  illustrated,  represents  an  imple- 
ment invented  by  H.  EL.  Monroe,  Rockland,  Maine,  and 
manufactured  by  "  The  American  Agricultural  Works," 
Tenth  avenue  and  Twenty-fourth  street,  New  York 
city.  The  arms  of  this  harrow  are  all  united  at  the 
centre,  and  a  circular  way  made  of  a  flat  bar  of  iron 
is  bolted  to  each  arm,  near  the  outer  extremity.  An 
iron  wheel  travels  on  this  way  when  the  harrow  is  in 
motion.  The  object  of  the  iron  wheel  is  to  press  the 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


291 


teeth  on  one  side  of  the  harrow  into  the  soil  farther 
than  the  teeth  enter  on  the  opposite  side.  The  harrow 
is  drawn  by  the  arm  that  is 
bolted  to  the  centre  of  the 
implement.  As  the  teeth 
on  the  side  where  the  wheel 
is,  take  a  ranker  hold  of  the 
ground  than  the  teeth  of  the 
opposite  side,  the  teeth  that 
enter  the  ground  the  deep- 
est, hold  that  side  of  the  har- 
row back,  while  the  other 
side  is  drawn  forward.  By 
this  means,  the  harrow  has 
a  compound  movement — a 
motion  forward  and  a  rotary 
motion.  The  harrow  can 
be  made  to  rotate  in  either 
direction  by  changing  the 
travelling  wheel.  The  arm 
that  supports  the  travelling 
wheel  is  secured  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  harrow  in  such  a 
manner  that  the  wheel  can 
be  placed  on  either  side  of 
the  harrow.  In  harrowing 

o 

along    a    hollow,   or    dead 

furrow,  this  harrow  can  be 

made  *to  rotate  toward  the 

lowest  place,  so  as  to  fill  it 

up  with   sods    and  lumps. 

When  harrowing  sod  ground,  the  harrow  can  be  made 

to  rotate  the  same  way  the  furrow  slices  are  turned,  or 


FIG.  87.— Monroe's  Eotary  Harrow. 


292  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

in  the  opposite  direction.  The  teeth  never  clog  ;  and 
for  harrowing  in  any  kind  of  grain,  this  style  of  harrow 
is  far  superior  to  the  ordinary  harrow,  because  this  will 
not  crowd  the  seed  into  rows,  like  the  harrow  that 
moves  straight  forward. 

SPRING  WHEAT  REQUIRES  MANURE. 

In  the  culture  of  spring  wheat,  whatever  may  be  the 
variety,  thorough  and  repeated  ploughing,  with  the  appli- 
cation of  rich  manures,  putting  in  the  seed  evenly,  and 
then  using  the  harrow  or  drill  for  covering  it,  are  the 
conditions  to  be  fulfilled  by  man.  Then,  unless  the 
season  should  prove  to  be  very  unpropitious,  a  remuner- 
ative crop  may  be  expected.  Let  this  system  of  thorough 
cultivation  become  general,  and  you  will  not  then  hear 
very  often  of  the  failure  of  the  wheat  crop.  A  few 
farmers  are  pursuing  this  course  of  thorough  tillage. 
They  devote  only  a  few  acres  to  wheat,  but  expend  a 
large  amount  on  the  cultivation  of  these  few  acres. 
And  the  result  is,  just  what  any  sensible  man  might  ex- 
pect, a  bountiful  crop  rewarding  all  their  toil.  The 
time  is  doubtless  coming,  when  a  kind  of  necessity  may 
compel  many  a  farmer  to  adopt  a  similar  course,  if  he 
wishes  to  have  good  bread  to  eat. 

In  England  and  Southern  Scotland,  wheat  has  been 
successfully  and  profitably  cultivated  for  centuries. 
"Why  may  it  not  in  these  United  States,  if  similar  pains 
are  taken  ?  Almost  all  our  farms  contain  at  least  a  few 
acres  on  which  wheat  might  be  sown  and  a  profitable 
harvest  gathered,  if  proper  cultivation  were  bestowed 
on  it.  Barely  ploughing  the  ground  once  or  twice,  and 
then  harrowing  in  the  seed  sown,  are  by  no  means 


THE   WHEAT    CULTTJKIS1'.  293 

enough.  Let  me  repeat  the  oft-reiterated  suggestion, 
that  wheat,  whether  winter  or  spring  grain,  requires  a 
kind  of  mineral  manure  that  will  reproduce  grain,  and 
not  straw. 

Joseph  Harris,  of  Rochester,  ~New  York,  writes  on 
this  subject :  "  The  introduction  of  turnip  culture  and 
drill  husbandry  into  England  banished  summer  fallows 
from  all  but  the  heaviest  clay  soils.  There  was  good 
reason  for  this :  the  turnips  required  and  received  extra 
cultivation.  As  soon  as  the  wheat  crop  is  harvested, 
the  land  is  scarified  and  ploughed  in  the  autumn,  and 
two  or  three  times  in  the  spring,  and  rolled  and  har- 
rowed, and  scarified,  till  it  is  as  free  from  weeds  and  as 
mellow  as  an  ash  heap ;  then  the  turnips  are  sown  in 
drills  from  two  to  two  and  a  half  feet  apart.  The  plants 
are  singled  out  by  hand-hoes  in  the  rows,  from  twelve 
to  fifteen  inches  apart,  and  the  horse-hoe  is  kept  con- 
stantly going  between  the  rows,  and  the  hand-hoe  when- 
ever necessary.  In  this  way  the  land  is  as  effectually 
cleaned  and  mellowed  as  if  it  had  been  summer-fallowed. 
Hence  turnips  have  been  appropriately  termed  a  c  fal- 
low crop.'  But  we  have  as  yet  no  such  fallow  crop  in 
America.  I  am  aware  that  Indian  corn  is  sometimes 
called  a  '  fallow  crop,'  because,  like  turnips,  it  admits 
the  use  of  the  horse-hoe ;  but  it  is  not,  strictly  speaking, 
a  fallow  or  renovating  crop,  because  it  impoverishes  the 
soil  of  the  same  plant  food  as  the  wheat  crop  requires. 
So  much  has  been  said  in  England  against  summer  fal- 
lows, and  these  opinions  have  been  reiterated  so  often 
by  the  agricultural  press  of  this  country,  for  the  last 
thirty  years,  that  there  is  a  very  general  opinion  that 
summer  fallows  are  unnecessary.  This  impression,  while 
it  may  have  done  some  good,  has  also  done  considerable 


294  THE   WHEAT   CTJLTURIST. 

harm.      Farmers    have    neglected    their  summer    fal- 
lows." 

THE  CONCLUSION  OF  WHEAT  GROWING. 

Now,  if  our  farmers  would  only  regard  their  own 
most  important  interests,  and  the  interests  of  those 
who  may  cultivate  the  soil  after  them,  every  sheep, 
every  swine,  and  every  bullock  would  be  put  in  excel- 
lent condition  for  the  slaughter-house  before  leaving  the 
farm.  Then  there  would,  necessarily,  be  something  left 
behind  to  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  and  thus 
produce  more  abundant  crops  of  grain  and  larger  and 
fatter  cattle  the  next  season. 

Were  I  asked  by  a  farmer  on  the  cold  soil  of  Maine 
how  to  produce  wheat  there,  I  would  say,  raise  mutton. 
Were  the  same  question  propounded  by  a  Canadian,  I 
would  answer,  make  mutton,  and  apply  the  manure  to 
the  soil.  Were  the  farmers  of  the  West  to  inquire  how 
to  raise  better  crops  of  wheat,  from  year  to  year,  instead 
of  poorer  yields,  which  is  now  the  rule,  still  my  answer 
would  be,  make  mutton,  by  feeding  coarse  grain  and 
turnips.  This  is  what  the  farmers  of  our  country  must 
eventually  come  to — making  mutton — before  they  can 
expect  to  produce  such  crops  of  wheat  as  once  grew  on 
our  virgin  soils.  By  making  mutton  from  year  to  year, 
and  applying  the  manure  thus  produced  by  the  sheep, 
farmers  will  learn  that  they  will  receive  more  money 
from  their  flocks,  and  the  yield  of  grain  will  increase 
from  year  to  year,  instead  of  diminishing. 

Some  chemists  tell  us  that  ammoniacal  fertilizers 
should  always  be  covered  up  with  a  little  earth,  to  pre- 
vent loss  by  evaporation.  This  is  correct.  On  the 
contrary,  they  state  that  such  fertilizers  as  lime  and 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


295 


potash,  or  ashes,  should  be  spread  on  the  surface,  be- 
cause such  heavy  fertilizing  material  has  a  tendency  to 
work  downward  into  the  soil.  The  main  point,  in  my 
own  estimation  is,  to  make  rich  manure,  and  cover 
it  with  a  thin  dressing  of  soil.  J.  Harris  says,  "  There 
is  not  enough  ammonia  in  a  ton  of  such  stuff  as  many 
farmers  call  manure,  to  make  hartshorn  enough  for  a 
lady's  smelling-bottle! !!  Instead  of  ploughing"  in  so 
much  clover  for  wheat,  then,  let  us  convert  it  into  wool 
and  mutton ;  and  if  we  can  give  our  sheep  peas,  or 
beans,  or  oilcake  in  addition,  it  will  tell  wonderfully  on 
the  manure,  and  on  the  crops  to  which  it  is  applied." 

The  illustration  herewith  given  represents  a  new  and 
eminently  useful  coulter,  to  prevent  clogging  when 
ploughing  stubble  ground,  or  when  turning  under 
coarse  manure  or 
clover — invented  by 
M.  A.  Spink,  Rensse- 
laer  Falls,  New  York, 
and  sold  also  by  R. 
H.  Allen  &  Co.,  189 
Water  street,  New 
York  city.  It  can  be 
readily  attached  to 
the  beam  of  almost 
any  plough,  with  the 
same  fastening  that 
is  required  to  secure 
an  ordinary  coulter 
in  the  desired  posi- 
tion. The  shank  of  the  coulter  should  stand  perpen- 
dicularly on  the  beam  of  the  plough,  as  represented  by 
the  illustration.  The  upper  part  of  the  blade  is  made  as 


FIG.  88.— Spink's  Anti-clogging  Coulter. 


296 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUB1ST. 


represented  by  the  figure,  with  the  upper  point  bending 
over  to  the  left  three  or  four  inches  from  a  line  with  the 
shank.  As  the  stubble  or  coarse  manure  is  forced  'up 
along  the  edge  of  the  blade,  it  is  conveyed  to  the  left  of 
the  shank  and  falls  off  the  point  of  the  blade,  instead  of 
being  gathered  beneath  the  beam  to  clog  the  plough. 

THE  STAK  CULTIVATOR. 

In  some  sections  of  country  where  wheat  is  cultivated 
to  considerable  extent,  farmers  like  such  an  implement 
for  preparing  the  ground,  as  is  represented  by  the 


FIG.  89.— The  Star  Cultivator. 


accompanying  illustration  of  a  combined  cultivator  and 
seed-drill,  which  is  manufactured  by  Ewell  &  Co.,  Bal- 
timore, Maryland.  In  the  next  chapter  this  cultivator  is 
shown  with  the  roller  and  seeding  apparatus  attached. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


297 


In  this  figure  the  roller  and  seed-box  are  not  repre- 
sented ;  but  in  the  place  of  the  roller  two  gauge-wheels 
appear.  The  implement  needs  little  or  no  explanation, 
as  the  cut  gives  a  fair  idea  of  the  various  parts.  The 
ploughs  regulate  themselves,  as  to  depth  ;  and  by  means 
of  the  cam  lever,  they  may  be  raised  entirely  out  of  the 
ground  in  an  instant,  or  made  to  run  at  any  desired 
depth. 

CAHOON'S  HAND  GRAIN  SOWEE. 

The  illustration  given  in  connection  with  this  article 
represents  a  person  sowing  seed  with  one  of  Gaboon's 


i£l£^^ 

|5££^ 


FIG.  40.— A  Hand  Sower. 


sowers,  for  distributing  any  kind  of  grain,  broadcast,  by 
means  of  hand  machinery,  which  the  laborer  carries, 

13* 


298  THE   WHEAT   CTJLTTJKIST. 

working  it  as  he  travels  over  the  field.  The  grain"  is 
carried  in  a  receptacle  to  which  the  machinery  is 
attached.  At  one  side  of  the  machine  is  a  distributing 
wheel,  with  arms,  or  flanges,  which  play  in  the-  issue  of 
the  grain  receptacle.  When  the  machine  is  not  in 
motion  the  grain  cannot  flow  out  ;  but,  as  soon  as  the 
crank  is  turned,  the  grain  is  scattered  broadcast  in  front 
of  the  sower.  If  every  part  of  the  machine  is  made  per- 
fectly, and  if  the  operator  can  exercise  mechanical  skill 
in  managing  difficult  machinery,  he  can  sow  grain  evenly 
and  rapidly  with  such  a  seed  sower. 

But  there  are  some  difficulties  attending  the  manage- 
ment of  such  a  grain  sower,  to  which  it  is  proper  for  me 
to  allude,  so  that  a  farmer  may  understand  exactly  what 
he  is  purchasing,  when  he  procures  one  of  this  style  of 
machines.  There  is  the  same  liability  to  scatter  seed 
unevenly  with  this  sower  as  when  sowing  broadcast  by 
hand.  If  the  operator  does  not  walk  exactly  at  a  uniform 
gait,  and  if  he  does  not  keep  his  body  in  a  steady  posi- 
tion, without  wriggling,  and  does  not  turn  the  crank  at 
a  uniform  velocity,  he  will  not  be  likely  to  sow  the 
seed  as  evenly  as  it  should  be.  By  turning  the  body 
only  a  little  either  way,  from  a  direct,  straightforward 
course,  the  direction  of  the  falling  grain  will  be  changed 
very  much.  By  turning  the  crank  faster,  the  grain  will 
be  distributed  over  a  wider  breadth  of  land.  A  skilful 
operator  will  regulate  the  motion  of  the  crank  by  his 
steps. 

A  more  complete  description  of  this  seed  sower  may 
be  found  in  R.  H.  Allen  &  Co.'s  catalogue  of  his  agricul- 
tural implements,  189  Water  Street,  New  York  city, 
price  $1.  It  is  sold  also  by  "  The  Ames  Plough  Com- 
pany," 53  Beekman  Street,  New  York  city ;  and  is 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  299 

warranted  to  operate  satisfactorily,  which  it  will  do,  if 
the  machine  be  used  with  the  skill  required.  I  have 
penned  the  foregoing  suggestions,  more  for  the  benefit 
of  farmers,  than  for  the  pecuniary  advantage  of  the 
manufacturer  of  the  machine.  I  have  alluded  to  the 
difficulties  which  will  be .  met  with  in  operating  such  a 
seed  sower,  so  that  a  common  laborer  might  not  be  dis- 
appointed, when  using  it. 

SOWING  GRAIN  BROADCAST. 

Every  farmer  should  learn  to  sow  all  kinds  of  grain 
and  grass  seed  broadcast.  I  say  he  should  learn  to  do 
it.  Very  few  men  are  able  to  sow  anything  evenly. 
On  some  kinds  of  land,  a  drill  cannot  be  used. 

In  sowing,  either  by  furrows  or  stakes,  always  throw 
the  grainy*r6>m  the  margin  of  the  field ;  because  one  can 
sow  much  more  evenly  up  to  the  margin  by  throwing 
away  from  it,  than  he  can  to  throw  toward  it.  Let  the 
grain  slip  off  the  ends  of  the  fingers,  and  not  between  the 
thumb  and  fingers,  nor  "between  the  fingers.  Make  cal- 
culations how  wide  to  sow  at  one  through,  or  once 
across  ;  and  endeavor  to  give  the  grain  such  a  cast  that 
it  will  come  down  as  evenly  as  possible. 

In  sowing  by  middle  furrows  and  ridges,  which,  if  the 
ploughing  has  been  done  correctly,  will  be  just  twenty- 
two  feet  apart,  I  always  sow  just  eleven  feet  to  a  cast. 
I  can  usually  sow  more  evenly  by  walking  about  mid- 
way from  each  edge  of  the  strip  that  I  am  sowing.  It 
matters  little  where  a  sower  walks,  if  he  only  distributes 
his  grain  evenly. 

Casting  the  grain  all  one  way  is  the  most  approved 
manner  of  sowing,  with  many  farmers.  When  sowing 


300 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


is  performed  in  this  manner,  some  farmers  mark  out 
the  ground  with  marks  just  eleven  feet  apart ;  and  the 
sower  travels  in  the  marks ;  and  if  he  commences  sowing 
east  and  west  on  the  north  margin  of  the  field^  he  starts 


•'    !  ./:       till 

1'iu.  41. — bowing  Grain  Broadcast. 

at  the  east  end,  travelling  on  the  margin,  and  casts  the 
grain  to  the  south  with  his  right  hand,  sowing  up  to  the 
first  mark. 

The  most  convenient  receptacle  to  sow  from,  is  a  bag 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  301 

of  ordinary  size,  hung  over  the  shoulder,  as  shown  in 
the  illustration.  Read  all  about  the  manipulations  of 
sowing  grain  in  first  volume  of  my  Young  Farmer's 
Manual,  which  may  be  had  of  the  author. 

XUTTIXG'S  FANNING  MILL. 


FIG.  42.— Grain  Separator. 

Every  farmer  who  raises  grain  should  have  a  fanning 
mill  that  will  separate  the  small  from  the  large  kernels. 
Rufus  Nutting,  Randolph,  Vermont,  is  the  inventor  of 
an  excellent  fanning  mill  and  seed  separator,  which 
is  represented  by  the  accompanying  illustration.  The 
"Annual  Register,"  when  extolling  the  merits  of  this  mill, 
states  that,  at  one  of  the  fairs  of  the  State  Society,  an 
agent  put  one  of  the  poorest  samples  of  grain  through 
this  mill,  returning  it  to  the  bag  with  the  large  kernels 
on  the  top.  When  the  judges  saw  the  grain,  they 
awarded  the  first  prize  to  the  poorest  entry  of  wheat, 


302  THE   WHEAT   CULTTJRIST. 

not  knowing  that  the  large  kernels  were  all  on  the  sur- 
face. The  screens  are  so  constructed  that  they  have 
almost  the  smoothness  of  glass,  and  are  made  by  press- 
ing common  wire  screens,  rendering  the  meshes  im- 
movable and  always  accurate,  increasing  their  durabil- 
ity, giving  them  the  character  of  glazed  muslin,  and 
allowing  the  seed  to  slide  over  them,  when  slightly  in- 
clined from  a  level.  The  latter  quality  gives  them  their 
preeminent  advantage.  The  seed  never  falls  directly 
upon  them,  but  first  upon  a  smooth  surface,  flat  with 
the  screen,  in  passing  over  which  and  to  the  screen, 
every  oblong  grain  has  assumed  a  horizontal  position. 
If  longer  than  the  meshes,  it  goes  over  them ;  if  shorter, 
it  drops  through.  Such  a  mixture,  therefore,  as  spring 
wheat  and  oats,  often  so  troublesome  to  the  farmer,  is 
perfectly  separated.  Even  barley  and  spring  wheat  are 
separated,  the  barley  grains  being  slightly  longer,  and 
enough  lighter  to  be  driven  more  by  the  current  of  wind. 
Wheat  is  cleaned  from  chess  in  a  complete  manner.  J. 
J.  Thomas  says,  "  For  cleaning  grass  seed,  we  have  never 
witnessed  anything  that  would  compare  with  this  fan. 
A  mixture  of  clover  and  timothy  was  run  through  once 
together.;  in  one  drawer  was  found  entirely  pure  timothy 
seed,  and  in  another,  clover  without  a  single  grain  of 
timothy ;  the  intermediate  drawer  had  a  very  small  quan- 
tity of  imperfect  seeds  of  clover,  a  very  little  timothy, 
and  some  other  seeds  of  weeds. 

"  The  current  of  wind  is  so  completely  at  command, 
that  all  degrees  of  strength,  from  the  imperceptible  breeze 
to  the  blast  that  sweeps  away  heavy  grain,  may  be  readily 
given.  This  peculiarity,  in  connection  with  the  screens, 
enables  the  operator  to  separate  any  seeds  whatever,  that 
differ  either  in  shape,  size,  or  weight. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


303 


"  A  most  important  office  performed  by  this  machine 
is  the  separation  of  the  different-sized  seed  of  the 
same  grain.  Pass,  for  instance,  ten  bushels  of  wheat 
through  the  screens ;  one  portion  will  be  found  a  uni- 
formly small  grain  ;  another  about  medium ;  a  third, 
large,  plump  and  first  rate.  The  first  and  third  would 
not  be  supposed  to  have  grown  in  the  same  field.  In 
this  way,  excellent  seed  wheat  may  be  obtained  from  an 
ordinary  crop;  and  the  best  bushel  in  fifty,  or  the  best 
ten  bushels  in  fifty,  may  be  separated  at  the  option  of 
the  farmer." 

HAKDER'S  IMPROVED  FANNING  MILL. 

The  illustration  herewith  given  represents  an  im- 
proved fanning  mill 
of  a  superior  kind, 
manufactured  by 
R  &  M.  Harder, 
Cobleskill,  Schoha- 
rie  County,  New 
York.  This  mill 
is  adapted  to  clean- 
ing all  kinds  of 
grain  and  grass 
seeds ;  and,  I  be- 
lieve, gives  excellent  satisfaction.  Every  farmer  who 
raises  grain  should  possess  an  excellent  fanning  mill, 
and  always  clean  his  seed  grain  thoroughly. 

DIBBLING  ix  WHEAT. 

The  process  of  dibbling-in  seed  wheat  consists  in  sim- 
ply making  a  hole  in  the  ground  with  one  finger,  or  with 
the  end  of  a  pointed  stick  about  as  large  as  a  man's 


FIG.  48.— Fanning  Mill. 


304  THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

forefinger.  The  dibble  is  put  through  a  hole  in  a  block 
of  wood  about  three  inches  square,  which  furnishes  a 
shoulder  to  prevent  making  a  hole  more  than  two,  or  two 
and  a  half  inches  deep.  If  no  shoulder  is  attached  to 
the  dibble,  where  the  soil  is  mellow,  there  is  danger  that 
the  dibble  will  be  thrust  into  the  ground  too  far.  The 
operator  carries  his  seed  in  a  sack  or  planting-bag 
secured  to  his  body,  as  when  planting  Indian  corn. 
The  soil  is  first  put  in  excellent  tilth,  as  the  dibbling 
process  cannot  be  conducted  satisfactorily,  where  there  are 
lumps  of  earth  and  stones.  The  surface  of  the  ground 
is  made  smooth  and  even,  by  raking  and  rolling.  Then 
a  line  is  stretched  across  the  piece  to  be  dibbled  ;  and  as 
fast  as  one  hand  makes  a  hole  with  the  dibble,  the  other 
drops  one  kernel  into  the  bottom  of  the  recess  ;  and  each 
hole  is  filled  with  mellow  soil.  This  constitutes  the  en- 
tire process  of  dibbling-in  grain. 

It  has  been  stated  in  certain  agricultural  papers,  that 
if  seed  wheat  were  dibbled  in,  the  yield  would  be  double 
the  amount  of  grain  that  could  be  raised  on  the  same 
ground  by  any  other  mode  of  seeding.  But  there  is  no 
reason  to  believe  that  one  bushel  of  grain  more  could  be 
produced  by  dibbling-in  the  seed  than  by  putting  in 
with  a  good  drill.  The  fact  that  statements  have  been 
made  by  farmers,  to  show  the  superiority  of  dibbling 
over  drilling  or  broadcast  seeding,  does  not  make  it  so. 
We  want  the  evidence  of  numerous  well-conducted  ex- 
periments to  prove  it.  If  the  soil  is  in  an  excellent 
state  of  fertility,  the  yield  of  grain  will  be  as  large 
when  put  in  with  Beckwith's  drill  (page  306),  as  if  drilled 
in  by  hand.  Indeed,  seed  is,  to  all  intents  and  purposes, 
drilled  in,  by  such  a  drill,  as  I  have  just  alluded  to. 

Dibbling  can  be  practised  advantageously  and  eco- 


THE   WHEAT   GULTTTRIST.  305 

nomically,  only  where  there  is  an  abundance  of  cheap 
labor.  If  a  farmer  has  no  drill,  and  has  time  to  spare, 
it  will  pay  him  to  put  an  acre  of  land  into  first-rate  con- 
dition ;  and  dibble  in  the  seed.  When  experimenting 
on  a  small  scale  with  the  production  of  new  varieties, 
the  seed  may  be  dibbled  in. 

As  the  stools  of  wheat  will  tiller  sufficiently  to  occupy 
the  entire  ground  if  the  soil  be  rich,  if  the  kernels  be 
planted  seven  inches  apart  in  the  drills  and  the  same 
distance  in  the  rows,  the  yield  of  grain  will  be  fully  as 
large  as  if  more  seed  had  been  planted. 

In  Stephens'  "  Book  of  the  Farm,"  an  English  work, 
the  author  has  penned  a  paragraph  on  dibbling-in  grain. 
But  a  concluding  sentence  leads  one  to  infer  that  he 
knows  nothing  practically  about  this  system  of  seeding ; 
as  he  says,  "  It  is  asserted  by  those  who  have  put  in 
wheat  by  dibbling,  that  the  yield  will  be  five  quarters 
and  a  half  (forty-four  bushels)  per  acre ;  and  that  one 
bushel  of  seed  is  sufficient  for  an  acre." 

The  "  Country  Gentleman  "  contains  a  brief  account 
of  a  Michigan  farmer,  who  attempted  to  dibble  in  wheat 
on  a  large  scale,  by  constructing  a  roller  having  ridges 
and  creases,  similar  to  Beckwith's  drill  (page  306).  But 
the  experiment  was  doubtless  too  rude  to  prove  anything, 
either  for  or  against,  the  system  of  dibbling. 

The  superintendent  of  the  County  Poor-house,  hav- 
ing a  large  number  of  men  under  his  supervision,  with- 
out pay,  had  an  acre  of  land  prepared  as  for  a  carrot 
bed,  and  the  seed  dibbled  in  by  hand.  It  was  a  tedious 
process.  But  the  yield  was  no  heavier  than  if  the  seed 
had  been  put  in  with  a  drill. 

The  idea  that  by  pressing  the  soil  around  the  seed,  or 
by  pressing  the  soil  before  the  seed  is  put  in,  will  pro- 


306 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


duce  a  larger  yield  of  grain,  than  if  the  seed  were  put 
into  the  mellow  ground  without  any  such  compressing 
of  the  seed-bed,  is  all  moonshine,  and  unphilosophical. 


BECKWITH'S  ROLLER  DRILL. 
The  accompanying  representation  of  a  drill  will  furnish 


FIG.  44.  _ Beckwith's  Boiler  Drill. 


a  fair  idea  of  the  style  of  implement  made  by  P.  D.  Beck- 
with,  Dowagiac,  Michigan.  This  drill  consists  of  a  series 
of  cast-iron  rollers  or  wheel,  one  of  which  is  shown  in 
the  engraving,  all  placed  on  a  wrought-iron  shaft,  or 
axle,  which  will  roll  on  the  ground,  each  one  independ- 
ent of  the  other,  and  which  support  the  entire  frame 
and  all  the  machinery  of  the  drill.  These  rollers  are 
twenty-eight  inches  in  diameter,  and  have  a  Y-shaped 
periphery,  which,  by  the  aid  of  the  weight  of  the  drill, 
form  small  furrows  in  the  soil  to  receive  the  seed. 

The  rollers  are  also  made  with  sufficient  hub  to  keep 
them  the  proper  distance  apart,  seven  and  a  half  inches 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  307 

from  centre  to  centre ;  and  each  one  is  loose  on  the  axle 
and  has  an  independent  movement  from  each  other,  ex- 
cept the  centre  roller  and  one  at  the  end,  which  are  both 
made  fast  on  and  rovolve  with  the  axle.  This  end  roller 
drives  the  distributing  apparatus ;  and  by  the  aid  of  the 
centre  wheel,  will  make  a  uniform  motion  for  distribut- 
ing the  seed  regularly  upon  the  most  uneven  ground. 
The  frame  of  the  drill  is  made  of  two  cast-iron  slide- 
pieces,  with  rounded  corners  in  front,  so  as  to  ward  off 
stumps  and  other  obstructions,  when  passing  them,  and 
still  be  able  to  drive  the  machine  very  close  to  the  same 
so  as  to  sow  all  the  ground  that  can  ^ploughed  in  new 
fields  or  among  corn  shocks,  as  many  of  our  Western 
farmers  sow  wheat  after  corn,  the  same  fall,  before  the 
corn  is  removed  from  the  field. 

The  box  or  hopper  for  holding  coarse  grain  is  placed 
behind  the  rollers,  and  is  made  in  the  usual  form,  and 
has  two  iron  plates  or  jaws  at  the  bottom,  one  made  fast 
and  the  other  movable.  There  is  a  wooden  rod  placed 
under  these  plates,  with  wire  pins  projecting  up  between 
and  about  one-half  an  inch  above  the  plates  into  the 
seed.  This  rod  is  made  to  vibrate  by  suitable  lever 
connections,  a  cam  on  the  end,  with  roller.  The  wire 
pins  running  between  the  plates  of  the  hopper  upward 
into  the  seed  will  agitate  and  cause  it  to  run  out  be- 
tween the  opening,  which  can  be  regulated  to  sow  the 
desired  quantity.  The  seed  from  the  distributor  is  con 
ducted  down  through  iron  pipes  into  the  furrows  made 
by  the  rollers.  There  are  inverted  iron  hoes,  or  cov- 
erers,  attached  to  the  frame  and  drag  behind  the  rollers 
and  conducting  pipes,  to  cover  the  seed.  These  cov 
erers  can  be  raised  from  the  ground,  when  turning 
around,  by  means  of  a  crank  attached  to  the  journal. 


308  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

The  grass-seed  hopper  is  placed  forward  of  the  rollers 
and  deposits  the  seed  broadcast.  The  distributor  is  a 
slide  of  thin  flat  iron,  placed  in  the  bottom  of  the  hop- 
per, with  suitable  holes  in  it  to  correspond*  with  the 
openings  in  the  bottom  of  the  hopper  to  regulate  the 
quantity  sowed.  The  seed  is  agitated  and  made  to  pass 
through  these  openings  by  a  serrated  rod  made  to  vi- 
brate in  the  bottom  of  the  hopper  on  the  thin  iron  slide 
by  being  attached  to  the  levers  on  the  cam  of  the  end 
roller. 

These  rollers  all  being  on  the  one  axle,  will  level  the 
ground  similar  to  a  field-roller,  and  leave  the  surface  in 
good  condition  for  the  reaper  and  mower ;  and  the  roll- 
ers being  loose  on  the  shaft  or  axle,  may  be  turned 
around  easily  by  the  team. 

Where  the  soil  is  light,  and  mellow,  the  grass-seed 

O         7  "  O 

distributor  may  be  forward  of  the  grain  drill,  as  it  is 
better  to  cover  grass  seed  with  one  inch  or  more  of  earth 
on  very  light  soils.  But  as  a  general  rule,  especially 
where  the  soil  is  heavy,  I  think  that  the  grass-seed  dis- 
tributor should  be  placed  behind  the  rollers,  as  there  is 
danger  of  covering  grass  seed  too  deep.  Grass  seed  of 
all  kinds  requires  but  little  covering.  My  long  expe- 
rience assures  me  that  a  larger  proportion  of  grass  seed 
and  clover  seed  will  grow  when  sowed  after  the  last 
implement  has  been  drawn  over  the  surface  than  when 
the  seed  is  harrowed,  rolled,  or  brushed  in.  There  is 
great  danger  of  covering  grass  seed  too  deep.  The  first 
shower  of  rain  that  falls  on  the  field  after  the  seed  has 
been  sown,  will  cover  almost  every  seed  as  deep  as  is 
requisite  to  insure  germination  and  luxuriant  vegetation. 
Another  improvement  in  this  excellent  drill,  besides 
placing  the  grass-seed  distributor  behind  the  rollers,  is 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  309 

forming  the  Y-shaped  ridge  on  the  surface  of  a  broad  thin 
rim,  say  five  inches  wide.  This  style  of  rollers  would 
leave  the  surface  of  the  ground  more  even,  as  all  the 
clods  would  be  crushed  when  they  are  more  than  one 
inch  in  diameter.  If  the  periphery  of'  the  rollers  were 
of  this  form,  the  channels  made  by  the  Y-shaped  ridges 
would  all  be  of  a  uniform  depth ;  whereas,  when  con- 
structed of  the  present  form,  were  the  soil  very  mellow 
and  light,  the  channels  would  be  made  too  deep.  As 
this  roller  drill  deposits  the  kernels  of  grain  about  one 
and  a  half  or  two  inches  deep,  the  roots  of  the  growing 
plants  spread  out  nearly  in  a  horizontal  direction,  more 
in  a  mass,  and  thus  withstand  more  effectually  the  influ- 
ences of  freezing  and  thawing  of  the  soil,  and  the  con- 
sequent upheaving  of  the  plants  in  the  winter. 

I  think  that  all  practical  wheat-growers,  who  under- 
stand the  habit  of  the  wheat  plant,  and  who  appreciate 
the  importance  of  having  the  seed  put  into  the  soil  at 
a  uniform  depth,  will  agree  that  this  drill  operates  on 
principles  strictly  scientific,  and  in  perfect  harmony 
with  the  habit  of  the  growth  of  the  wheat  plant. 
"Where  there  are  stones  and  roots  in  the  soil,  to  prevent 
the  operation  of  this  drill,  a  tube  drill  is  preferable. 

PRACTICAL  ADVANTAGES  OF  DKILLING-IN  WHEAT. 

There  is  great  advantage  in  having  seed  wheat  cov- 
ered deep  and  uniformly  in  dry  weather,  in  order  to 
insure  more  perfect  germination.  When  wheat  is  sowed 
broadcast  and  harrowed  in,  in  dry  weather,  much  of  the 
seed  will  never  vegetate ;  but  the  kernels  will  absorb  a 
little  moisture  during  the  night,  which  will  all  be  dried 
out  during  the  daytime.  By  this  alternate  wetting  and 


310  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

drying  of  the  grain  the  germs  will  be  destroyed  in  a  few 
days.  If  the  kernels  be  buried  just  deep  enough  to  in- 
sure germination,  but  not  having  sufficient  depth  of 
earth  to  prevent  being  dried  up  by  the  burning  sun,  the 
young  plants  wither  and  die  for  want  of  deptn  of  earth. 
John  Johnston,  of  Geneva,  New  York,  writes :  "I 
noticed  last  year,  on  an  adjoining  farm,  where  the 
wheat  was  drilled  in,  that  it  came  up  much  better  than 
mine,  where  the  seed  was  sown  broadcast.  In  fact,  the 
wheat  came  up  right.  I  could  not  account  for  the  dif- 
ference, at  the  time,  between  the  appearance  of  my 
grain  and  this  in  my  neighbor's  field,  as  my  land  is  in 
as  good  state  of  cultivation  as  his;  and  the  seed  was 
put  in  on  both  farms  at  the  same  time.  His  field  pro- 
duced a  good  crop  of  grain,  far  above  the  average  crop 
of  this  county  for  several  years  past.  It  did  not  occur 
to  me,  till  this  season,  that  the  great  difference  between 
the  two  crops,  was  owing  to  his  wheat  being  drilled  in 
while  mine  was  sowed  broadcast  and  harrowed  in.  Last 
season,  we  both  sowed  our  winter  wheat  in  the  former 
part  of  September.  My  ground  had  been  summer  fal- 
lowed, and  I  never  saw  a  field  in  better  condition  for 
receiving  seed.  A  dry  time  ensued  at  the  period  of 
sowing  the  seed.  His  drilled  wheat  came  up  evenly, 
and  grew  luxuriantly ;  while  mine  was  exceeding  thin 
on  the  ground.  On  examining,  I  found  that  none  of 
my  grain  had  vegetated,  except  those  kernels  that  were 
buried  deepest  in  the  soil.  It  occurred  to  me  then  that 
if  I  had  drilled  in  my  wheat,  my  fields  would  have  pro- 
duced five  or  six  hundred  bushels  of  grain  more  than 
they  did  yield.  I  will  drill  in  my  wheat  hereafter.  Old 
as  I  am,  I  still  live  and  learn.  I  expect  my  wheat  will 
yield  this  season  only  about  twelve  bushels  per  acre. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  311 

"With  the  exception  of  the  crops  raised  in  1828  and  1831, 
my  wheat  was  the  poorest  this  past  season  that  I  have 
ever  raised.  The  failure  was  mainly  owing  to  the  severe 
drought  in  autumn,  at  seed  time.  Every  wheat-grower 
knows  that  it  is  impossible  to  obtain  a  remunerating 
crop  of  wheat,  when  the  seed  sown  in  autumn  does  not 
come  up  till  after  the  growing  season  has  commenced 
the  next  spring." 

THE  PHILOSOPHY  OF  DRILLING-IN  GRAIN. 

By  reviewing  what  is  recorded  under  the  heading  of 
The  Habit  of  the  Wheat  Plant,  page  49,  and  also  page 
126,  the  reader  will  understand  the  eminent  import- 
ance of  depositing  every  kernel  of  wheat  at  a  uniform 
depth. 

This  is  aimed  at  when  wheat  is  put  in  with  an  ordi- 
nary drill;  and,  for  the  most  part,  the  end  sought  is 
secured,  if  the  soil  be  of  a  uniform  quality  and  condi- 
tion, so  that  the  teeth  will  run  at  a  given  depth.  But 
when  the  soil  is  mellow  in  some  places,  and  hard  in 
others,  some  drills  will '  deposit  the  seed  in  the  mellow 
places  too  deep,  so  that  putting  in  with  a  drill  will  have 
no  advantage  over  sowing  broadcast,  so  far  as  obviating 
the  injurious  effects  of  freezing  and  thawing  are  con- 
cerned. The  teeth  of  grain  drills  should  be  set  to  run 
not  more  than  two  inches  in  depth.  One  and  a  half 
inches  deep  for  winter  grain  is  better  than  two,  for  rea- 
sons already  assigned,  except  where  the  soil  is  light  and 
dry,  in  which  instance  the  seed  should  be  deposited  not 
less  than  two  inches  in  depth.  Then,  nearly  all  the 
roots  will  be  so  near  each  other,  that  the  expansion  of 
the  soil  will  neither  break  the  stem  nor  seriously  dam- 


312 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTUKIST. 


FIG.  46.— Wheat  Drilled  In. 


age  the  roots ;  nor  will  it  cause  perceptible  diminution 
of  the  crop. 

The  accompanying  illustration  will  furnish  a  practi- 
cal illustration  of  the  mode  and  advantages  of  putting  in 

wheat  with  a  drill. 
It  will  be  per- 
ceived that  the 
ears  of  grain  are 
of  a  uniform  size, 
and  all  the  straws 
are  of  a  uniform 
height.  The  fig- 
ure shows  some  of 
ad  vantages  of  drill- 
ing-in  the  seed, 
just  as  those  points 
are  seen  in  a  field 

of  growing  wheat.  The  drilled  grain,  figure  45,  being 
deposited  at  a  sufficient  and  uniform  depth  to  receive 
the  moisture  and  the  nourishment  of  the  soil,  comes  up 
more  uniformly  at  one  time,  is  better  fed  and  nourished, 
stands  a  drought  much  better,  grows  more  vigorously, 
ripens  earlier  and  more  uniformly,  is  not  so  liable  to 
rust,  and  the  heads  are  larger  and  better  filled. 

When  seed  grain  is  drilled  in,  one  man  will  complete 
the  operation,  by  simply  going  over  the  ground  once. 
If  sowed  broadcast,  the  ground  must  be  harrowed  twice 
:  after  the  seed  is  sowed.  This,  in  addition  to  the  time 
consumed  in  sowing  the  seed  by  hand,  will  require  about 
three  times  longer  than  is  necessary  to  drill  it  in.  More- 
over, the  drill,  if  properly  made  and  adjusted,  will  de- 
posit every  kernel  at  a  uniform  depth ;  whereas,  the 
harrow  covers  some  of  the  seed  too  deep,  some  not  deep 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST.  313 

enough,  and  some  not  at  all ;  and  if  the  soil  be  deep  and 
mellow,  the  feet  of  teams  will  press  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  it  quite  too  deep. 

Another  advantage  in  drilling-in  the  seed  is,  as  soon 
as  an  acre  or  two  is  ploughed,  the  grain  may  be  put  in 
immediately,  thus  finishing  the  work  as  fast  as  the 
ground  is  ploughed.  When  grain  is  sowed  broadcast,  it 
is  much  more  convenient,  and  rather  important,  to  have 
the  entire  field  ploughed  before  sowing,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  harrow  both  ways.  When  a  farmer  has  a  drill,  he 
can  plough  an  acre,  then  harrow  it,  and  drill  in  the  seed 
all  in  one  day,  while  the  soil  is  fresh,  which  is  the  best 
condition  to  hasten  the  germination  of  the  grain.  He 
thus  finishes  his  work  as  he  progresses,  and  is  always 
ready  for  temporary  interruptions  by  storms  of  rain, 
which  are  often  attended  with  more  or  less  injury  to  the 
crop.  Such  delays,  especially  with  spring  grain,  are 
often  fatal  to  a  good  crop. 

THE  DISADVANTAGES  OF  SOWING  WHEAT  BROADCAST. 

The  illustration  given  on  the  next  page  is  a  fair  repre- 
sentation of  growing  wheat  where  the  seed  was  scattered 
broadcast  and  harrowed  in.  When  wheat  is  sowed 
broadcast  and  harrowed,  a  portion  of  the  seed  is  left  un- 
covered, exposed  to  the  drying  winds  and  scorching  sun, 
to  the  fowls  and  birds  ;  and  that  which  is  covered,  is 
at  very  unequal  depths,  some  very  deep,  some  medium 
depth,  and  some  so  near  the  surface  that  in  case  of 
drought,  it  fails  to  mature  for  lack  of  moisture.  Winter 
wheat  sowed  broadcast  is  much  more  liable  to  be 
raised  by  the  frost,  and  be  thrown  out  upon  the  sur- 
face, there  exposed  to  perish,  for  the  reasons  already  as- 

14 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


FIG.  46.— Grain  Sowed  Broadcast. 


signed,  namely,  that  a  portion  of  the  seed  is  barely 
covered  with  earth ;  while  much  of  it  will  be  buried  four 
to  six  inches  deep,  by  the  feet  of  teams,  where  the  soil 

is  mellow.  If  the 
kernels  are  not  all 
buried  at  a  uniform 
depth,  the  stalks 
will  not  grow  of  an 
equal  height  and 
size.  If  a  farmer 
will  examine  grow- 
ing wheat,  after  the 
heads  are  formed,  he 
will  see  some  large 
and  well-developed 
heads,  and  some  short  stems  and  light,  half-matured 
ears.  Of  course,  there  will  be  a  difference  in  the 
periods  of  perfect  maturity ;  whereas,  if  the  kernels 
are  all  alike  as  to  size,  and  all  covered  at  a  given  depth, 
the  germs  will  start  alike  ;  the  stems  will  grow  uniform- 
ly ;  and  the  grain  will  ripen  all  at  one  time,  so  that  no 
loss  will  be  sustained  in  consequence  of  the  late  matur- 
ity of  a  portion  of  the  ears. 

BROWN'S   CELEBRATED  GRAIN  DRILL. 

The  illustration  herewith  given  represents  a  trans- 
verse section  of  the  distributing  apparatus  of'  a  grain 
drill  invented  by  H.  L.  &  C.  P.  Brown,  Shortsville, 
ISTew  York,  which  is  one  of  the  best  tube  drills  that  I 
have  ever  met  with,  as  its  action  is  very  reliable  and 
uniform.  This  drill  will  distribute  all  kinds  of  grain 
with  admirable  precision.  In  the  box,  the  stirrer  is  rep- 
resented, which  consists  of  an  iron  rod  with  wooden 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJKIST. 


315 


FIG.  4T.— Grain  Distributor. 


pins  driven  through  it,  so  that  the  ends  of  the  pins  stir 
the  grain  near  the  issue 
of  each  distributor,  to 
prevent  clogging.  Ker- 
nels of  grain  are  repre- 
sented as  passing  through 
the  run,  or  passage  from 
the  hopper  to  the  issue 
where  the  grain  drops 
into  the  tubes,  and  is  con- 
ducted to  the  bottom  of 
the  furrow  opened  by 
each  drill,  before  any  of 
the  soil  falls  back  over  the 
seed.  The  teeth  on  the 
periphery  of  the  wheel 
which  revolves  within  the  case,  sweep  out  a  uniform 
quantity  of  grain  at 
every  revolution. 
When  the  team  starts 
the  drill,  the  drill  be- 
gins to  scatter  the  seed. 
Figure  48  represents 
the  opposite  side  of 
the  same  distributor, 
for  distributing  peas 
and  beans.  Either 
side,  or  run,  can  be 
shut  off  at  pleasure. 
Or  every  other  distri- 
butor can  be  adjusted 
to  scatter  seed,  if  it  is  FlG- 48-— For  Drming-in  Peas, 

desirable.     The  quantity  of  seed  per  acre  is  regulated 


316  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

by  gear  wheel  of  different  sizes.  Large  numbers  of  this 
style  of  drills  have  been  manufactured  by  the  firm  al- 
luded to ;  and  the  same  drill  is  made  by  the  follow- 
ing manufacturers:  Brown,  Adams  &  Co.,  Shortsville, 
K  Y. ;  ."Whiteside,  Barnett  &  Co.,  Brockport,  K  Y. ; 
Titus  &  Bostwick,  Ithaca,  K  Y. ;  and  Wiard  &  Waldo, 
Oakfield,  N.  Y.  I  give  the  names  of  these  firms  for 
the  benefit  of  farmers  who  want  good  drills. 

THE  BUCKEYE  GRAIN  DRILL. 

For  the  convenience  of  farmers  in  different  sections 
of  the  country,  I  have  concluded  to  mention  the  Buck- 
eye Grain  Drill, which 
is  represented  by  the 
accompanying  illus- 
tration, Fig.  49.  This 
is  a  tube  drill  closely 
resembling  the  Brown 
drill  described  on  pre- 
vious pages.  I  can 
FXQ  49  recommend  it  with 

all     confidence,     as 

large  numbers  of  them  have  been  sold  to  grain-produc- 
ing farmers ;  and  I  have  never  heard  an  adverse  report, 
that  this  drill  did  not  sustain  its  high  reputation.  This 
drill  is  manufactured  extensively  by  manufacturers  in 
Springfield,  Ohio,  and  by  K.  W.  Cowan,  Fleming,  Ca- 
yuga  County,  New  York. 

CROSS-DRILLING  SEED  WHEAT. 

Some  farmers  have  been  accustomed  to  drill  in  their 
seed  wheat  as  oats  and  barley  are  sometimes  put  in— 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  317 

by  drilling-in  half  the  desired  amount  per  acre,  by  driv- 
ing the  drill  in  one  direction,  and  the  remainder  by  run- 
ning the  drill  at  a  right  angle  to  the  first  direction. 
Some  of  our  wheat-growers  repose  so  much  confidence 
in  this  manner  of  drilling-in  seed  wheat,  that  they  be- 
lieve it  increases  the  amount  of  the  crop  from  twenty 
to  twenty-five  per  cent.  But,  if  any  one  will  take  the 
trouble  to  decide  this  controverted  point  by  a  few  well- 
conducted  experiments,  he  will  satisfy  himself  that  there 
is  really  nothing  gained,  but  a  loss  sustained,  by  putting 
in  winter  wheat  in  that  manner. 

The  chief  objection  to  cross-drilling  of  winter  wheat 
is,  that  the  feet  of  the  teams — especially  when  the  soil 
is  mellow  and  deep — will  force  much  of  the  seed  two 
or  three  inches  deeper  than  it  was  deposited  by  the 
drill.  Planting  a  portion  of  the  grain  two  or  more 
inches  deeper  than  the  seed  should  be  covered,  and 
deeper  than  the  larger  proportion  of  the  grain  is  cov- 
ered, will  be  found  to  be  decidedly  objectionable  for 
winter  grain  of  any  kind.  Indeed,  such  an  uneven 
manner  of  covering  the  seed  will  be  found  more  objec- 
tionable for  any  kind  of  winter  grain,  than  for  spring 
grain.  Another  objection  to  cross-drilling  winter  wheat 
is,  much  of  the  seed  that  was  drilled  in  the  first  time 
will  be  displaced  by  the  drill-tubes  and  left  partly  un- 
covered. And  some  farmers  contend  that  the  second 
drilling  destroys  the  little  ridges  made  by  the  tubes. 
But  this  theory  amounts  to  nothing  in  a  practical  point 
of  view.  Its  abettors  contend  that  the  ridges  made  by 
the  drill-tubes  are  washed  down  to  a  level  by  the  snows 
and  rains  of  winter,  thus  tending  to  the  accumulation 
of  more  soil  over  the  roots  of  the  wheat  plants  that  have 
been  lifted  out  by  the  frost. 


318  THE   WHEAT    CULTUKI8T. 


FATAL  EXPERIMENT  WITH  SEED  WHEAT. 

Farmers  should  remember  that  the  germs  of  wheat 
are  organs  of  exceedingly  delicate  structure.  *  They  are 
really  things  of  life — little  things,  and  of  course,  they 
have  but  a  small  amount  of  vitality.  For  this  reason, 
it  is  exceedingly  hazardous  to  tamper  with  the  grain. 
Let  it  be  always  kept  distinctly  in  mind,  that  it  does 
not  take  much  to  destroy  the  germs  of  the  grain.  Young 
farmers — and  sometimes  old  ones  who  ought  to  know 
better — have  a  great  desire  to  try  an  experiment  with 
their  seed  grain.  J.  L.  Rice,  a  farmer  of  Jefferson  Coun- 
ty, New  York,  communicated  the  following  suggestions, 
which  will  save  many  a  young  farmer  from  falling  into 
a  similar  experiment.  He  writes  thus  to  the  "  Cultiva- 
tor and  Country  Gentleman  "  : 

"  It  is  quite  common  nowadays  to  try  experiments. 
Some  give  '  quite  satisfactory '  results ;  with  others  there 
is  nothing  perceptible,  either  good  or  bad ;  while  a  third 
class  often  prove  very  disastrous.  The  one  I  am  about 
to  give,  is  of  the  latter  class,  and  I  give  it,  not  because 
I  like  to  say  much  about  having  done  a  very  foolish 
thing,  neither  would  I  recommend  it  to  others — but  as 
a  warning  to  those  inclined  to  try  experiments ;  and, 
where  there  is  an  even  chance  for  a  failure,  to  do  it  cau- 
tiously and  on  a  small  scale. 

"  In  the  fall  of  1857, 1  had  a  piece  of  ground  of  about 
four  acres,  upon  which  I  thought  I  would  risk  a  crop 
of  wheat.  The  land  was  in  fine  order,  it  having  been 
well  manured  previous  to  the  crop  of  barley,  just  taken 
from  it — and  to  make  it  still  better,  it  had  another  good 
dressing  after  it  was  ploughed  for  the  wheat.  I  could 
see  no  reason,  if  the  winter  was  favorable,  why  I  should 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  319 

not  have  a  good  crop.  But  about  this  time  I  was  seized 
with  an  intolerable  itching  to  try  an  experiment.  I 
wanted  to  do  something  that  would  destroy  the  weevil — 
keep  the  wire-worms  at  a  proper  distance — prevent 
smut,  and  at  the  same  time  make  the  wheat  grow,  like 
Jonah's  gourd.  Now,  what  would  accomplish  all  this? 
Be  patient,  gentlemen,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  I  did, 
and  what  was  the  result. 

"  My  cow  stable  is  so  constructed,  that  the  urine  runs 
back  into  a  gutter  by  itself,  and  can  be  very  easily  taken 
up,  free  from  manure.  I  concluded  to  give  my  seed  a 
good  wetting  with  this  urine,  and  dry  it  off  with  lime, 
and  then  sow  it.  I  did  so.  It  lay  about  six  hours  wet, 
before  the  lime  was  applied,  and  then  it  was  immediate- 
ly sowed  and  nicely  dragged  in.  After  waiting  a  suit- 
able time  for  it  to  come  up,  I  went  to  see  how  it  looked, 
with  the  bump  of  expectation  considerably  enlarged. 
But  I  was  a  little  too  soon — it  had  not  made  its  appear- 
ance— it  would  come  in  a  few  days  ;  of  course  it  would. 
Who  ever  knew  a  field  of  wheat  sown,  and  not  come 
up  ?  Another  week,  and  I  went  to  take  a  look — but  no 
wheat !  The  result  was,  it  never  did  come  up.  I  do 
not  believe,  that  if  all  that  ever  made  its  appearance 
above  ground,  had  been  left  to  mature,  there  would  have 
been  as  much  as  a  man  would  take  upon  a  wheelbar- 
row. It  was  a  total  failure.  This  was  wholly  owing 
to  the  experiment,  for  the  seed  was  first  rate.  I  sold 
some  to  a  neighbor,  and  it  grew  finely.  Now,  the  ap- 
plication made,  like  a  great  many  things  recommended, 
was  not  adapted  to  the  end  desired.  True,  it  destroyed 
the  weevil — kept  the  wire- worms  at  bay,  perhaps.  As 
to  the  smut,  cannot  say  what  the  result  would  have 
been  ;  but  it  killed  the  germ  of  the  wheat. 


320  THE   WHEAT   CULTDKIST. 

"' Bought  wit' is  better  than  none;  and  I  am  riot 
sure  but  that  it  is  the  best ;  for  one  is  apt  to  remember 
what  he  gets  in  this  way.  But  it  should  not  cost  too 
imuck.  Mine,  in  this  instance,  cost  me  about  <  twenty- 
five  dollars,  as  seed  at  that  time  was  worth  two  dollars 
a  bushel ;  besides  not  a  little  vexation  and  disappoint- 
ment. I  would  just  say,  that  I  have  been  rather  shy 
of  that  puddle  behind  my  cows,  ever  since  its  use  as 
above  mentioned.  Although  a  very  excellent  fertilizer, 
and  should  by  all  means  be  saved,  it  is  better  to  mix  it 
with  straw,  and  other  absorbents,  and  apply  it  to  the 
land,  and  not,  in  its  full  strength  and  raw  state,  to  seed 
wheat  or  any  other  kind  of  seed.  So  I  think." 

BRINING  SEED  WHEAT. 

"Some  steep  their  seed,  and  some  in  caldrons  boil, 
With  vigorous  nitre  and  with  lees  of  oil, 
O'er  gentle  fires,  th'  exuberant  juice  to  drain, 
And  swell  the  flattVing  husks  with  fruitful  grain." 

DRYDEN'S  VIRGIL. 

.  Some  wheat-growers  contend  that  brining  the  seed  is 
of  no  practical  utility.  But  the  large  majority  of  good 
farmers  concur  in  the  belief,  that  washing  the  seed  in 
brine  as  strong  as  it  can  be  made,  will  prevent  smut. 
It  will  also  enable  the  farmer  to  skim  out  light  wheat, 
chess,  and  almost  anything  else  that  may  be  in  the  seed, 
the  strong  brine  bringing  it  to  the  surface  much  better 
than  mere  water.  The  wheat  should,  while  in  the  brine, 
be  stirred  as  long  as  any  foul  seed  or  light  wheat  rises ; 
one  bushel  at  once  in  a  barrel  is  sufficient,  with  plenty 
of  brine;  then  dip  brine  and  wheat  into  a  basket. 
When  drained  a  few  minutes,  empty  on  a  clean  floor ; 
take  the  same  brine  for  another  batch,  and  so  on,  until 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  321 

you  have  as  mucli  as  you  wish  to  sow  that  day.  Then 
sift  on  good  slacked  lime  gradually,  while  another  per- 
son follows  around  the  heap  or  stirs  it  with  a  shovel,  or 
with  a  rake.  Put  on  lime  until  the  wheat  will  not 
stick  together.  Then  let  it  be  sown  and  immediately 
covered.  The  lime  will  then  continue  to  stick  to  the 
wheat,  and  furnish  fertilizing  material  to  promote  the 
growth  of  the  young  wheat  plants. 

A  wheat-grower  in  Western  New  York  has  com- 
municated his  manner  of  preparing  seed  wheat  as  fol- 
lows-: "  Before  sowing,  prepare  a,  strong  brine.  Half  a 
barrel  will  be  needed  to  pickle  as  little  as  four  or  five 
bushels  of  grain,  but,  of  course,  would  answer  for  much 
more,  and  to  this  quantity  add  half  a  pound  of  blue 
vitriol  (sulphate  of  copper}.  A  portion  is  done  at  a 
time,  stirring  it  well,  and  skimming  off  all  that  floats, 
dirt,  foul  stuff,  smutty  grains,  etc.  As  fast  as  each  por- 
tion is  soaked,  throw  it  out  into  a  basket  to  drain.  The 
pickling  should  be  done  four  to  twelve  hours  before 
sowing.  Just  previous  to  sowing,  the  grain,  should  be 
spread  out  upon  a  clean  floor  and  rolled  in  lime  slacked 
to  a  dry  powder,  stirring  the  heap  with  rakes." 

THE  STAR  DRILL. 

The  implement  represented  by  the  illustration  shown 
on  the  next  page,  is  the  combined  "  Star  Drill "  and  Cul- 
tivator, a  part  of  which  is  represented  on  page  296  of 
this  book.  Here  the  land-roller  and  the  seed-sowing 
attachment  are  shown,  in  connection  with  the  small 
ploughs. 

When  this  implement  is  employed  for  putting  in 
grain,  the  seed  is  taken  from  the  seed-box  by  means  of 

14* 


322 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


a  revolving  distributor  and  dropped  immediately  behind 
the  plough  in  the  furrow,  and  covered  by  the  next 
plough ;  and  so  on  after  each  plough,  leaving  the  grain 
in  the  last  furrow  uncovered  until  the  next  round.  The 


J.OJEHLEH3     fSS  *«•» 

FIG.  50.— The  Star  Drill. 


revolving  distributor  has  openings  at  a  given  distance 
from  each  other,  to  keep  up  a  continuous  stream  of 
grain.  The  quantity  is  increased  or  diminished  by  the 
depth  of  the  opening.  Resting  upon  this  seed-roller  is 
an  elastic  substance  arranged  to  distribute  the  grain 
in  the  desired  quantity.  This  is  a  comparatively  new 
farm  implement.  But  I  think,  if  it  is  properly  made, 
the  machine  will  operate  satisfactorily.  Further  infor- 
mation may  be  obtained  of  the  manufacturers,  Ewell 
&  Co.,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


323 


CAST  CAST-STEEL  PLOUGHS. 

The  figure  herewith  given  represents  a  plough  that 
has  become  exceedingly  popular,  and  is  gaining  favor 
every  year.  The  entire  mouldboard,  land-side,  and 
share,  are  made  of  cast  cast-steel.  The  metal  is  run  in 
a  mould  somewhat  as  ploughs  of  cast-iron  are  made. 


FIG.  51.— Steel  Ploughs. 

This  style  of  ploughs  is  a  perfect  paragon  of  neatness 
and  practical  utility.  Everybody  likes  them,  when  they 
are  made  right,  with  a  hard  temper.  They  are  manu- 
factured by  Collins  &  Co.,  212  Water  street,  New  York 
city.  No  other  plough  will  excel  this  implement  for 
working  in  the  light  prairie  soils  of  the  West.  When 
tempered  hard,  they  never  clog ;  but  when  the  steel  is 
soft  as  iron,  so  that  it  can  be  cut  with  the  point  of  a 
jack-knife,  tine  soil  will  adhere  to  the  surface  and  give 
as  much  trouble  as  is  frequently  experienced  with  cast- 
iron  ploughs. 


324  THE    WHEAT   CTJLTURIST. 

This  plough  has  been  before  the  public  sufficiently  long 
to  establish  the  point  that  steel  ploughs,  when  the  parts 
are  hardened  properly,  are  far  superior  to  iron  ploughs, 
as  they  will  draw  much  easier  and  last  longer.^ 

NISHWITZ'S  DISK  HARROW.* 


The  accompanying  illustration  represents  a  new  style 
of  pulverizer,  invented  by  F.  ISTishwitz,  142  First  street, 
Williamsburg,  Long  Island,  New  York.  The  principle 
of  construction  is  quite  new ;  but,  by  those  who  have 
used  it,  the  operation  is  said  to  be  eminently  effective. 
The  wooden  frame  consists  of  two  pieces  of  hard,  tough 
timber,  about  two  inches  in  thickness,  by  seven  or  eight 
inches  wide,  held  in  position  by  the  cross-bar,  which  is 
firmly  bolted  to  the  side  pieces,  as  represented  by  the 
illustration. 

The  pulverizers  consist  of  several  sharp-edged  circu- 
lar disks,  about  one  foot  in  diameter,  being  concave  on 
one  side  and  convex  on  the  other.  When  the  wheels  or 
disks  are  cast,  a  round  steel  pin,  about  three-fourths  of 
an  inch  in  diameter,  is  inserted  in  the  mould,  thus  fur- 
nishing a  steel  journal  for  each  disk.  A  bolt  with  a  nut 
at  the  upper  end  is  passed  through  a  socket-standard, 
which  holds  the  disks  in  their  position. 

*  Was  awarded  a  special  gold  medal,  at  trial  of  plows,  harrows, 
cultivators,  etc.,  at  Utica,  1867,  by  N.  Y.  State  Agricultural  Soc. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTIJKIST.  325 


CHAPTER  IV. 

WHEAT  HARVEST. 

"  How  the  harvest  spreads  the  field ! 
Waving  grain  to  reapers  yield  1 
Scythes  and  sickles  flash  around, 
Rakes  and  pitchforks  clear  the  ground." 

EDWARDS. 

THE  season  of  wheat  harvest,  when  I  was  in  my  boy- 
hood, used  to  be  a  joyous  and  propitious  period  for  poor 
people.  Several  days  before  wheat  was  fit  to  harvest, 
the  streets  would  often  be  lined  with  cradlers  and  rakers 
and  binders,  going  from  those  sections  of  the  country 
where  they  thought  the  soil  was  too  poor  to  produce 
wheat,  to  the  wheat-growing  districts,  in  quest  of  labor. 
For  ordinary  farm  labor,  men  were  accustomed  to  re- 
ceive fifty  cents  in  money ;  or  one  bushel  of  Indian  corn  ; 
or  half  a  bushel  of  wheat,  for  the  labor  of  one  day.  For 
a  day's  work  in  the  harvest  field,  a  cradler  was  accus- 
tomed to  receive  one  dollar,  or  a  bushel  of  wheat ;  or 
two  bushels  of  Indian  corn.  The  men  who  raked  and 
bound  after  a  cradler,  alone,  received  one  dollar  each, 
as  raking  and  binding  the  wheat  that  a  cradler  cut  down, 
was  considered  equal  to  the  labor  of  cradling  the  same 
amount  of  grain.  When  two  men  followed  a  cradler, 
they  received  fifty  cents  each,  per  day.  A  boy  who  could 
rake  gavels,  received  twenty-five  cents  for  his  day's  work, 
or  half  a  bushel  of  Indian  corn  ;  and  the  man,  or  boy, 


320  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

who  could  bind  the  gavels,  after  they  were  raked,  was 
paid  seventy-five  cents  per  day.  Cradlers  and  rakers 
and  binders  were  required  to  do  their  work  in  a  neat 
and  farmer-like  manner,  or  they  must  find  employment 
somewhere  else. 

This  incentive  prompted  men  to  learn  how  to  work 
with  skill  and  efficiency.  Such  cradlers  and  rakers  and 
binders  as  most  farmers  are  now  obliged  to  rely  on,  are 
most  inefficient  and  miserable  help.  Whether  they 
swing  the  cradle,  or  rake  and  bind,  or  shock  the-  bound 
grain,  their  work  is  performed  in  a  most  perfunctory,  slov- 
enish,  and  unsatisfactory  manner.  Nothing  will  have  a 
tendency  to  make  an  ambitious  and  neat  farmer  so  ut- 
terly sick  of  his  employment,  as  to  see  most  of  the  farm 
laborers  of  the  present  day  swing  the  cradle  in  grain 
of  any  kind,  or  rake  and  bind  the  gavels,  and  put  the 
sheaves  in  stooks.  When  I  was  a  young  man,  very  few 
of  the  farm  laborers  of  the  present  day  would  have  re- 
ceived more  than  a  boy's  wages,  until  they  had  learned 
to  work  in  the  harvest  field  with  efficiency  and  in  a  neat 
and  skilful  manner.  When  a  man  or  boy  failed  to 
cradle  grain  neatly,  or  rake  it  clean,  or  to  bind  his 
sheaves  tight,  and  in  the  middle  of  the  gavel,  it  was  a 
very  common  occurrence  to  hear  the  proprietor  tell  him, 
"  You  do  not  work  to  suit  me.  You  can  find  work 
somewhere  else."  But,  at  the  present  day,  good  cradlers 
and  neat  and  skilful  rakers  and  binders  are  the  excep- 
tion— not  the  rule,  as  it  should  be.  To  aid  practical 
farmers  in  performing  their  work  in  the  easiest  and  most 
economical  manner,  is  my  object,  in  penning  the  follow- 
ing pages.  Let  farmers  first  learn  how  to  handle  tools 
with  skill  and  efficiency,  and  then  they  will  be  prepared 
to  teach  their  awkward  laborers. 


THE    AVHEAT   CULTCBIST.  327 


REAPERS  AND  MOWERS. 

Every  farmer  who  raises  wheat,  or  any  other  kind  of 
cereal  grain,  needs  a  good  reaper.  And  while  lie  is 
procuring  one,  he  may  as  well  purchase  a  combined 
machine  as  to  own  a  reaping  machine  and  a  mowing 
machine  in  two  separate  machines.  Besides  this,  it  is 
desirable  to  get  a  machine  that  can  be  relied  on  from 
year  to  year ;  a  machine  that  has  been  brought  to  the 
most  satisfactory  degree  of  perfectibility.  Mechanics 
will  be  trying  to  bring  out  machines  on  new  principles. 
The  consequence  is  that  a  great  many  imperfect  -ma- 
chines must  be  taken  on  the  farms  and  experimented 
with,  until  all  the  imperfect  points  in  the  machinery 
have  been  found  and  corrected.  For  this  reason,  I  con- 
sider it  important  to  suggest  to  farmers  to  purchase  such 
machines  as  can  be  used  to  mow  grass,  clover  seed,  flax, 
and  to  harvest  all  kinds  of  grain  ;  and  to  choose  such 
machines  as  have  had  all  their  weak  points  corrected. 
It  takes  a  vast  amount  of  brain  labor  and  money  to 
make  a  really  good  and  complete  mower  and  reaper. 
Either  of  the  firms  whose  reapers  are  figured  and  de- 
scribed in  this  book  have  expended  a  large  fortune  in 
bringing  their  reapers  and  mowers  to  their  present  state 
of  perfectibility. 

THE  KIRBT  MOWER  AND  REAPER. 

This  reaper  is  a  combined  machine,  driven  by  only 
one  wheel.  Some  farmers  are  very  partial  to  a  one- 
wheeled  reaper  and  mower,  while  others  can  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  short  of  a  two- wheeled  machine.  Who- 
ever has  a  fancy  for  a  one-wheeled  machine,  will  find 


328  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

all  that  he  can  desire  in  the  Kirby.  No  expense  has 
been  spared  to  perfect  every  part  of  it.  D.  M.  Osborn 
&  Co.,  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  told  me  that  their  firm  ex- 
pended $20,000  in  one  experiment  to  bring  out  the 
best  labor-saving  machine  in  the  county.  I  merely  pen 
these  facts — not  to  puff  this  reaper — but  to  suggest  to 
beginners  the  importance  of  getting  such  machines  as 
can  be  relied  on  when  grass  and  grain  are  fit  to  har- 
vest. 

There  used  to  be,  and  there  is  now  a  serious  defect  in 
most  one-wheel  mowers  and  reapers,  which  is  this :  if 
the  drive-wheel  is  in  a  furrow,  the  weight  comes  so 
heavily  on  the  finger-bar,  and  so  lightly  on  the  drive- 
wheel,  that  the  cutters  cease  to  work.  But  this  diffi- 
culty has  been  obviated  in  the  Kirby,  as  will  appear 
from  the  following  brief  description  of  the  essential 
parts  of  this  reaper  and  mower. 

The  illustration  on  the  next  page  represents  the  Kirby 
combined  mower  and  reaper,  with  reel-self-rake  attach- 
ment, set  up  for  reaping. 

The  drive-wheel  is  bolted  on  the  axle  in  the  usual 
manner;  but  the  plate  on  which  the  axle  is  cast,  is 
made  to  move  vertically,  in  a  groove  of  the  frame,  so 
that  the  drive-wheel  has  a  motion  entirely  independent 
of  the  frame  and  the  finger-bar,  and  will  run  into  dead 
furrows,  or  other  depressions,  and  allow  the  cutting  part 
to  work  on  the  level  ground,  the  motion  and  power  of 
the  cutters  not  being  affected  in  the  least.  In  running 
over  stony  and  stumpy  meadows  also,  this  method  of 
connection  with  the  drive-wheel  gives  great  facility  in 
raising  the  frame,  and  with  it  the  cutting  parts,  above 
any  obstructions.  This  is  effected  easily  through  the 
adjustment  made  between  the  weight  of  the  driver  and 


I 


330  THE    WHEAT    OULTURI8T. 

the  weight  of  the  working  parts ;  the  one  so  balancing 
the  other,  that  the  working  of  a  lever  is  not  necessary 
to  raise  the  inner  end  of  the  bar,  as  is  the  case  with 
nearly  all  other  machines.  The  finger-bar  is  ,of  a  great- 
ly improved  pattern,  giving  a  cut  close  to  the  ground 
in  mowing.  The  cutter-bars,  or  knives,  are  made  light 
and  strong,  of  the  best  cutting  steel,  and  tempered  with 
great  care,  so  as  to  give  an  elastic  cutting  edge  suitable 
as  well  for  stony  and  sandy  ground  as  for  the  tough, 
fine,  close  bottoms  of  old  meadows.  The  machine  is 
made  of  iron  and  steel  throughout,  except  the  pole,  seat, 
and  track-clearer.  The  cutting  apparatus  is  the  same 
as  that  used  for  mowing,  with  the  finger-bar  raised  to 
the  required  height  for  reaping.  The  platform  is  so 
shaped  as  to  deliver  the  grain  easily  at  the  side  of  the 
machine.  When  used  as  a  hand-raker,  the  person  rak- 
ing off,  sits  a  little  in  the  rear  of  the  frame,  having  per- 
fect command  of  the  grain  as  it  falls  on  the  platform  ; 
and  can  bring  it  off  with  one  easy  quarter  sweep  of  his 
rake.  The  reel  self  rake  has  recently  been  attached  to 
the  reaper ;  and  it  is  operated  by  simple  gearing  from 
the  level  wheel-shaft.  A  small  pinion  engages  the  gear 
of  a  circular  plate  having  four  radial  arms.  These  arms 
are  pivoted  at  their  connection  with  the  circular  plate, 
and  are  moved  vertically  by  means  of  cams  and  ways ; 
and  receive  from  them  all  the  necessary  motions  for 
sweeping  the  grain  on  the  platform  as  it  is  cut,  and  rak- 
ing it  off  in  a  gavel,  when  required.  Beaters  are  at- 
tached to  three  of  the  arms  fur  gathering  the  grain  upon 
the  platform ;  and  to  the  other  arm  a  rake  is  bolted,  to 
take  the  grain  off.  Rakes  may  also  be  attached  to  the 
other  arms  in  place  of  beaters,  so  as  to  deliver  the  grain 
in  a  nearly  continuous  swath.  This  is  a  very  strong 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  331 

and  compact  rake,  the  working  parts  being  all  of  iron, 
and  put  together  in  a  very  substantial  manner. 

KEEPING  KNIVES  SHARP. 

As  the  cutters  of  mowers  and  reapers  sever  the  stems 
of  grain  and  grass  with  a  crushing  stroke,  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  the  cutting  edge  should  be 
sharp.  Besides  this,  the  angles  which  the  cutting  sides 
make  with  the  base  must  be  accurately  adjusted  to  the 
rapidity  of  their  vibrations,  and  their  temper  must  be 
such  as  to  insure  the  best  cutting  edge.  Experience 
has  shown  that,  where  the  whole  section  is  tempered, 
it  is  too  frangible  for  practical  use.  The  slightest  con- 
tact with  stones,  sticks,  or  other  obstructions,  causes  it 
to  fly  in  pieces  like  glass.  The  central  portion  of  the 
section  should  therefore  be  left  soft,  while  the  temper- 
ing is  confined  to  a  portion  extending  from  one-half  to 
five-eighths  of  an  inch  from  the  edge.  The  violent 
change  in  the  structure  of  the  metal,  lying  on  either 
side  of  the  line  of  demarcation  (see  Fig.  53),  often  causes 
a  fracture,  resulting  in  loss  to  the  manufacturer  or  the 
farmer,  according  to  the  time  when  the  fracture  appeared. 

The  illustration  on  the  next  page  represents  a  knife, 
or  section,  manufactured  by  Reynolds,  Barber  &  Co., 
Auburn,  New  York.  The  committee  appointed  by  the 
New  York  State  Agricultural  Society  to  examine  these 
sections,  state  that  "  all  of  the  Messrs.  Reynolds'  sec- 
tions conformed  to  their  test  through  ten  successive 
grindings.  Several  of  the  others  broke  when  pressed 
upward  at  an  angle  of  fifteen  degrees.  Some  of  them 
bent  permanently,  when  pressed  upon.  None  of  them 
except  Messrs.  Reynolds'  showed  a  good  temper  after 


332 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


the  third  grinding.  Where  a  graver  was  pressed  into 
the  section  at  the  centre,  and  carried  toward  the  edge 
with  a  uniform  pressure,  the  groove  formed  grew  grad- 


FIG.  58. 

ually  shallower,  until  it  touched  the  line  of  demarca- 
tion— in  the  Messrs.  Reynolds'  sections — showing  that 
the  hardening  was  progressive  from  the  centre  to  the 
line  of  demarkation.  In  the  sections  made  by  other 
firms  the  groove  formed  by  the  graver  was  of  uniform 
depth  until  it  touched  the  line  of  demarcation,  when  it 
became  at  one  very  shallow.  This  test  shows  that  the 
sections  of  the  Messrs.  Reynolds  grew  gradually  harder 
from  the  centre  to  the  line  of  demarcation,  and  that  the 
quality  of  the  metal  on  either  side  of  the  line  is  not- so 
dissimilar  as  to  cause  fractures ;  and  accounted  very  fully 
for  their  absence  in  the  sections. 

"  Having  thus  ascertained  the  superiority  of  these 
sections,  we  were  desirous  of  seeing  the  processes  of  their 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  333 

manufacture,  and  on  making  known  our  wishes,  the 
Messrs.  Reynolds  were  kind  enough  to  show  us  the 
whole  of  their  works ;  and  we  confess  to  a  feeling  of 
great  surprise  on  seeing  their  sections  so  perfectly  tem- 
pered without  the  agency  of  any  liquid,  by  percussion, 
reaction,  and  cold  air  alone.  We  saw  over  a  thousand 
tempered  and  ground,  not  one  of  which  was  cracked, 
or  which  exhibited  any  traces  of  fissure  whatever.  We 
believe  this  process  will  greatly  enhance  the  efficiency 
of  our  reaping  and  mowing  machines  ;  and  we  rejoice 
that  American  ingenuity  has  perfected  so  valuable  an 
invention.  They  are  hard  and  elastic,  will  break  be- 
fore they  will  bend,  and  will  carry  a  sharp  cutting  edge 
more  than  double  the  length  of  time  of  any  other  sec- 
tion we  ever  tried.  And  they  all  have  one  uniform 
temper,  which  we  consider  a  very  essential  point  to  the 
well-working  of  any  reaper  and  mower." 

REMARKS. — The  practical  point  of  first  importance  to 
a  wheat-grower,  when  purchasing  a  machine,  is,  to  ascer- 
tain whether  the  sections,  or  knives,  have  a  temper  equal 
to  those  manufactured  by  this  firm. 


BEST  TIME  TO  HARVEST  WHEAT. 

"  Shot  up  from  broad,  rank  blades  that  droop  below, 
The  nodding  wheat-ear  forms  a  graceful  bow, 
"With  milky  kernels  starting  full,  weighed  down, 
Ere  yet  the  sun  hath  tinged  its  head  with  brown." 

BLOOMFIELD'S  Farmer's  Boy. 

It  is  assumed  that  every  farmer  will  agree,  that  there 
is  "  a  best  period  "  in  the  growth  of  the  wheat  plant  for 
harvesting.  In  other  words,  there  is  a  time  when,  if 
the  straw  be  cut,  the  yield  of  grain  will  be  larger,  and 


334:  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

the  quality  of  flour  will  be  better,  than  if  the  same 
grain  were  harvested  previous  to,  or  after  that  time. 
That  is  the  decisive  point  for  harvesting  wheat.  Let  us 
consider  some  of  the  stages  of  development,  through 
which  the  wheat  passes,  as  the  growing  grain  approx- 
imates the  period  of  perfect  maturity.  The  first  state 
is  "the  milk  period."  The  heads  of  grain  and  the 
kernels  are  now  as  large  and  heavy  as  they  ever  will 
be ;  and  the  kernels  will  measure  more  at  this  period 
than  at  any  other.  Sometimes  the  extensive  fields  of 
wheat  look  like  a  sea  of  waving  gold.  But  the  grain  is 
not  fit  to  harvest.  And  if  the  straw  be  cut  down,  more 
or  less  loss  must  be  sustained,  as  the  material  that  forms 
the  kernels  contains  a  large  proportion  of  the  water 
which  must  be  worked  out  by  the  vital  action  of  the 
growing  plants  ;  and  its  place  must  be  supplied  by  sub- 
stances exquisitely  fine,  which  have  been  collected,  atom 
by  atom,  infinitesimally  small,  and  brought  to  the  ears 
and  deposited  in  the  kernels  in  the  place  occupied  by 
particles  of  water.  If,  at  this  period,  the  cradle  be  thrust 
in,  and  the  golden  grain  be  cut  down,  the  water  remain- 
ing in  the  kernels  will  quickly  escape,  before  its  place 
can  be  supplied  by  this  fine  material  that  forms  the 
flour.  The  consequence  is,  the  kernels  shrink,  and  the 
yield  of  grain  will  not  reach  its  maximum  quantity. 
At  this  period,  most  of  the  leaves  may,  sometimes,  be 
entirely  lifeless,  and  the  circulation  of  the  vital  fluid  in 
the  straw  may  have  ceased.  Yet,  the  process  of  chang- 
ing from  thin  to  thick  milk,  and  from  a  semi-fluid  to  a 
plastic  state,  continues  until  the  material  in  the  kernels 
is  of  the  consistence  of  dough  when  it  is  put  into  the 
baker's  oven.  This  -period  is  denominated  the  "  dough 
state."  The  next  is  the  period  of  perfect  maturity. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  335 

This  is  "  the  nick  of  time  "  to  thrust  in  the  sickle  and 
reap  the  harvest.  At  this  point  in  the  growth  of  the 
plant,  deterioration  commences  ;  and  the  longer  the 
grain  is  allowed  to  remain  uncut,  the  smaller  will  be 
the  yield,  whether  the  grain  be  measured  or  weighed, 
the  larger  will  be  the  product  of  bran,  and  the  smaller 
the  percentage  of  fine  flour.  After  wheat  has  passed  the 
milk  state,  the  change  to  hard  grain  is  usually  very  rapid. 
For  this  reason,  grain  is  frequently  allowed  to  stand 
several  days  too  long  ;  or  until  the  kernels  and  straw  are 
"  dead  ripe."  When  wheat  is  allowed  to  stand  uncut 
through  all  these  periods,  a  great  loss  is  frequently  sus- 
tained by  the  shelling  of  the  grain  while  the  gavels  are 
being  bound  into  sheaves.  Still  another  source  of  great 
loss  is  sustained  in  the  straw,  when  the  grain  is  not  cut 
until  every  part  is  dead  ripe.  If  wheat  be  cut  at  the 
period  designated  for  securing  the  largest  yield  of  grain , 
the  straw,  if  properly  secured  from  the  influences  of 
the  weather,  will  afford  a  large  quantity  of  valuable 
fodder  for  domestic  animals. 

On  this  subject,  Agricola,  in  the  "  Working  Farmer," 
writes :  "  There  is  probably  no  question  in  connection 
with  wheat  harvest  which  exercises  so  much  influence 
upon  the  quality  of  the  flour,  as  well  as  the  amount, 
as  the  time  of  cutting.  In  former  years,  when  we  were 
compelled  to  depend  on  the  sickle,  or  later  on  the  cradle 
and  manual  labor,  there  was  some  excuse  for  not  taking 
advantage  of  the  proper  and  best  time,  but  in  this  fast 
and  improved  age,  when  one  man,  aided  by  a  pair  of 
horses  and  a  self-raking  reaper,  can  cut  and  deliver 
ready  for  binding,  from  ten  to  fifteen  acres  of  wheat  per 
day,  there  is  no  excuse  for  its  not  being  performed  at  the 
proper  time  ;  the  only  thing  which  can  interfere  to  pre- 


336  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

vent  cutting  being  done  on  any  fixed  day  is  the  occur- 
rence of  rain,  but  then,  we  must  remember  that  our 
grain  ripens  very  little  during  wet  or  cloudy  weather. 
I  have  often  found  it  to  ripen  more  during  one  clear, 
warm  day  after  a  rain,  than  during  a  whole  week  of 
cloudy  or  showery  weather. 

"  At  first  glance  it  would  seem  that  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  grain  should  be.  allowed  to  become  dead  ripe 
before  cutting  ;  such  would  undoubtedly  be  the  case  if 
the  whole  crop  were  intended  for  seed,  as  is  the  case  in 
a  natural  state  of  the  plant ;  but  our  object  is  to  attain  the 
greatest  possible  percentage  of  flour  with  the  least  pos- 
sible offal ;  and  not  only  this,  but  also  to  have  this  flour 
as  rich  as  possible  in  gluten. 

"  All  the  experiments  which  have  been  tried,  not  only 
here  but  in  England,  have  clearly  proven  that  there  is  a 
certain  stage  of  the  growth  of  the  grain  at  which  it 
yields  the  greatest  proportion  of  flour,  and  that  at  this 
time  the  flour  contains  a  larger  percentage  of  gluten 
than  at  any  time  before  or  afterward.  In  order  to  more 
fully  understand  this  time,  let  us  go  back  four  weeks  ;  the 
first  two  weeks  will  represent  the  time  passing  between 
the  green  and  raw  state,  and  the  last  two,  the  time 
which  elapses  between  the  raw  and  ripe  state,  and  thus 
divide  the  grain  into  three  stages." 

Mr.  Hannum  instituted  several  experiments  to  ascer- 
tain, if  possible,  the  proper  period  to  harvest  the  grain  ; 
and  his  experiments  led  him  to  believe  that  at  "  about  a 
fortnight  before  it  fully  ripens  is  the  proper  time  for  cut- 
ting wheat,  as  the  skin  is  then  thinner,  the  grain  fuller, 
the  bushel  heavier,  and  the  yield  of  flour  greater."  From 
the  report  of  the  miller  who  ground  these  samples,  it 
seems  that  the  lot  cut  raw  made  eight  pounds  more  flour 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  337 

to  every  hundred  of  grain,  and  corresponding  amount  of 
straw.  The  amount  of  grain  was  not  materially  de- 
creased, showing  that  the  addition  to  the  weight  of  the 
grain  was  mainly  in  flour  and  not  in  bran. 

In  a  similar  experiment  the  result  showed  a  gain  of 
over  fifteen  per  cent,  in  flour,  from  equal  measures  of 
grain,  and  a  gain  of  eight  per  cent,  from  equal  weights 
of  grain.  "  English  millers  divide  the  product  of  the 
wheat  into  three  classes,  styled  flour,  pollard,  and  bran  ; 
the  sample  cut  when  fully  ripe  gains  fifty  per  cent,  more 
of  pollard  than  that  cut  raw.  This  effect  may  be  thus 
explained  :  at  the  time  of  the  first  cutting  while  in  the 
raw  state,  the  grain  contains  its  largest  amount  of  starch 
and  gluten  ;  at  this  period  the  grain  has  a  thin  skin,  and 
consequently  less  straw ;  afterward  nature  thickens  the 
skin  in  order  to  protect  the  grain,  thus  changing  a  por- 
tion of  the  starch  into  woody  fibre. 

In  a  more  extended  experiment  the  difference  in  pro- 
duce per  acre  may  be  thus  stated :  that  cut  when  raw 
yielded,  per  acre,  nine  hundred  and  ten  pounds  more 
straw  ;  ninety  pounds  more  flour ;  thirty-five  pounds  less 
pollard  and  sharps ;  thirty-five  pounds  less  bran  ;  twenty 
pounds  less  waste,  than  that  cut  ripe.  The  real  differ- 
ence in  value  may  be  stated  at  from  six  to  seven  dollars 
per  acre. 

ISTor  is  this  all  which  we  can  gain  from  early  cutting. 
I  have  heard  good  farmers  admit  that  they  sometimes 
lost  enough  wheat  by  shelling  out  between  cutting  and 
mowing  away  in  the  barn  to  seed  the  field,  or  in  other 
words,  from  one  and  one  and  a  half  to  two  bushels  per 
acre  ;  this  loss  is  all  prevented  by  early  cutting,  for  grain 
cut  in  the  raw  state,  no  matter  how  thoroughly  dried, 
will  seldom  if  ever  shell  out  if  handled  in  the  usual  man- 

15 


338  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

ner  ;  and  in  addition  to  this,  the  sheaf  is  much  pleasanter 
to  bind,  load,  and  thrash,  for  neither  the  straw  nor  beard 
is  so  stiff  as  when  the  crop  is  allowed  to  stand  until  fully 
ripe.  4 

In  some  instances,  I  have  known  wheat  to  be  cut  on 
the  fourth  of  July,  in  Central  ISTew  York ;  and  the  next 
season,  in  the  same  locality,  wheat  was  not  fit  to  harvest 
till  the  twentieth  of  the  same  month.  Therefore,  it 
would  be  useless  to  endeavor  to  fix  on  any  week  or  day 
of  a  particular  month  ;  for  one  day  will  scarcely  be  uni- 
versal in  one  country  nor  with  two  kinds  of  wheat. 

In  favorable  seasons  the  straw  commences  to  ripen 
from  the  bottom ;  in  certain  unfavorable  seasons  the 
upper  joints  are  ripe  first ;  but  the  latter  case  is  the  ex- 
ception to  the  rule.  When  on  examination  it  is  found 
that  the  two  lower  joints  of  the  straw  have  turned  yel- 
low, and  the  color  is  beginning  to  show  itself  above  the 
second  joint ;  when  the  field  seen  from  a  distance  seems 
quite  ripe,  but  when  more  closely  examined  is  found  still 
green  at  the  top  ;  when  on  crushing  the  grain  between 
the  fingers  or  teeth,  the  milk  is  found  to  have  become  so 
thick  as  to  be  fairly  called  a  liquid,  then  cut  /  but  not  till 
then.  My  usual  rule  is  to  wait  until  the  yellow  color 
begins  to  show  itself  almost  one  inch  above  the  second 
knot  or  joint  from  the  bottom ;  and  then  cut  the  crop. 
This  rule  cannot  of  course  be  applied  universally  to  the 
field ;  for  all  the  stalks  don't  ripen  equally.  But  when 
a  majority  of  the  stalks  comply  with  the  above  condi- 
tions, I  would  cut  the  field  at  once ;  for  though  it  seems 
green,  the  process  of  drying  will  ripen  it  without  the 
loss  which  ensues  when  ripened  "  in  the  ground."  When 
the  weather  is  unfavorable,  let  tools  and  implements  be 
prepared  to  harvest  with  dispatch  when  storms  ceaae, 


THE    WHEAT   CULTHKIST.  339 


CUTTING  WHEAT  IN  ENGLAND. 

A  few  experiments  have  been  made  and  published  in 
this  country,  showing,  by  accurate  measurement,  the 
advantages  of  cutting  when  the  chaff  has  partly  changed 
from  green  to  yellow.  We  find  the  following  additional 
proof  in  Baker's  lecture  before  the  Sparkenhoe  Club, 
England,  as  published  in  the  North  British  Agricul- 
turist : 

"  In  harvesting  wheat,  there  was  a  great  division  of 
opinion,  as  well  as  to  when  was  the  proper  time  and 
mode  of  cutting.  It  was  considered  a  proper  time  to 
cut  wheat  when  it  had  passed  from  a  '  milky  state '  to 
a  l  doughy  state.'  Experiments  had  been  made  under 
three  heads — first,  when  it  was  green;  second,  when 
the  straw  was  changing  color ;  third,  when  fully  ripe. 
The  results  were  in  the  first  case  19J  bushels  per  acre, 
valued  at  61s.  per  quarter ;  in  the  second,  23^-,  at  63s. ; 
in  the  third,  22J,  at  61s.  There  was  a  similar  result  in 
the  straw.  The  total  value  per  acre  was  found  to  be— 
on  that  cut  green  on  8th  August,  £12  17s.  per  acre,  or 
$62.30  ;  second,  when  cut  yellow  below  the  ear  one 
week  afterward,  £13  7s.,  or  $64.61 ;  third,  cut  when 
fully  ripe,  one  week  later,  £11  12s.,  or  $56.13.  This 
difference  arose  from  that  cut  first  and  second  producing 
more  fine  flour  and  less  bran  than  that  cut  last,  which 
proved  that  the  gluten  is  converted  into  starch  if  the 
wheat  stands  until  fully  ripe,  the  proper  time  being  un- 
doubtedly as  soon  as  either  end  of  th«  straw  has  changed 
to  a  yellow  color,  the  sap  having  then  ceased  to  flow ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  better  to  cut  early,  as  no 
portion  is  lost  by  shedding  during  the  process  of  cutting, 
or  by  the  effect  of  high  winds.  It  is  also  less  liable  to 


34:0  THE   WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 

sprout  in  the  sheaf,  and  early  harvests  are  also  generally 
best.  Besides,  a  few  days  gained  in  the  commencement 
of  harvest  is  of  immeasurable  advantage,  and  enables 
the  farmer  to  take  opportunities  for  effecting  other  work, 
which  otherwise  he  could  not  do." 


SIGNS  OF  PERFECT  MATURITY. 

The  "Prairie  Farmer,"  in  an  article  headed,  "When 
shall  we  cut  wheat  ? "  says :  "In  attempting  to  answer 
the  question,  At  what  particular  period  in  the  condition 
of  the  grain  shall  we  cut  itf  we  shall  not  refer  to  our 
own  experience,  but  only  add  that  our  rule  is,  to  cut 
the  grain  about  two  weeks  before  it  is  fully  ripe. 

"  Prof.  Johnston,  of  the  Koyal  Agricultural  Society 
of  England,  says,  the  rawer  the  crop  is  cut,  the  heavier 
and  more  nourishing  the  straw  will  be.  Within  three 
weeks  of  being  fully  ripe,  the  straw  begins  to  diminish 
in  weight ;  and  the  longer  it  remains  uncut,  after  that 
time,  the  lighter  it  becomes,  and  the  less  nourishing. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  the  grain,  which  is  sweet  and 
milky,  a  month  before  it  is  ripe,  gradually  consolidates 
— the  sugar  changing  into  starch,  and  the  milk  thicken- 
ing into  the  gluten  and  albumen  of  the  flour.  As  soon 
as  this  change  is  nearly  completed,  or  about  a  fortnight 
before  it  is  ripe,  the  grain  of  wheat  contains  the  largest 
proportion  of  starch  and  gluten.  If  reaped  at  this  time, 
the  bushel  will  weigh  most,  and  will  yield  the  largest 
quantity  of  fine  flour,  and  the  least  bran. 

"  At  this  period  the  grain  has  a  thin  skin,  and  hence 
the  small  quantity  of  bran.  But  if  the  crop  be  still  left 
uncut,  the  next  natural  step  in  the  ripening  process  is, 
to  cover  the  grain  with  a  better  protection — a  thicker 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  34:1 

skin — and  a  portion  of  the  starch  of  the  grain  is  changed 
into  woody  fibre.  By  this  change,  the  quantity  of  starch 
is  lessened  and  the  weight  of  husk  increased.  Hence 
the  diminished  yield  of  flour,  and  the  increased  produce 
of  bran. 

"  Theory  and  experience,  therefore,  indicate  about  a 
fortnight  before  it  is  dead  ripe,  as  the  most  proper  time 
for  cutting  wheat.  The  skin  is  then  thinner  and  whiter, 
the  grain  fuller,  the  bushel  heavier,  the  yield  of  flour 
greater,  its  color  fairer,  and  the  quantity  of  bran  less." 

COLOR    OF   THE    STRAW. 

When  the  straw  immediately  under  the  head  of  grain 
turns  from  a  greenish  to  an  orange  hue,  for  four  or  five 
inches  in  length,  it  is  time  to  cut  the  grain.  The  ker- 
nels or  berries  have  then  just  passed  out  of  the  milky 
state,  but  are  so  soft  as  to  be  easily  crushed  between  the 
thumb  nails.  At  this  time,  some  of  the  leaves  on  the 
lower  portion  of  the  stem  may  be  dead,  but  still,  that 
part  of  the  stem  remains  vigorous  for  a  few  days. 

Mr.  Kobert  Brown,  of  Edinburgh,  a  farmer,  and  for 
many  years  editor  of  the  "  Farmer's  Magazine,"  says  it  is 
necessary  to  discriminate  betwixt  the  ripeness  of  the 
straw  and  the  ripeness  of  the  grain ;  for,  in  some  sea- 
sons, the  straw  dries  upward;  under  which  circum- 
stances a  field,  to  the  eye,  may  appear  completely  fit  for 
the  sickle,  when,  in  reality,  the  grain  is  imperfectly  con- 
solidated, and  perhaps  not  much  removed  from  a  milky 
state.  Though  it  is  obvious  that,  under  such  circum- 
stances, no  further  benefit  can  be  conveyed  from  the 
root,  and  that  nourishment  is  withheld  the  moment  the 
roots  die;  yet  it  does  not  follow  that  grain  so  cir- 


342  THE   WHEAT   CULTUBIST. 

cumstanced  should  be  immediately  cut ;  because,  after 
that  operation  is  performed,  it  is  in  a  great  measure  nec- 
essarily, deprived  of  every  benefit  from  the  sun  and  air, 
both  of  which  have  greater  influence  in  bringing  it  to 
maturity,  so  long  as  it  remains  on  foot,  than  when  cut 
down,  whether  laid  on  the  ground  or  bound  up  in  sheaves. 
*  *  *  Taking  all  these  things  into  view,  it  seems  pru- 
dent to  have  wheat  cut  before  it  is  fully  ripe,  as  less  dam- 
age will  be  sustained  from  acting  in  this  way  than  by 
adopting  a  contrary  practice. 

Another  authority  says  that  grain,  if  not  reaped  until 
the  straw  is  wholly  yellow,  will  be  more  than  ripe,  as 
the  ear  generally  ripens  before  the  straw ;  and  it  is  ob- 
servable that  the  first  reaped  usually  affords  the  heaviest 
and  fairest  samples. 

In  the  "  Farmer's  Encyclopaedia  "  it  is  stated  that  the 
indications  of  ripeness  in  wheat  are  few  and  simple. 
"When  the  straw  exhibits  a  bright  golden  color  from  the 
bottom  of  the  stem  nearly  to  the  ear,  or  when  the  ear 
begins  to  bend  gently,  the  grain  may  be  cut.  But  as 
the  whole  crop  will  not  be  exactly  ripe  at  the  same 
time,  if,  on  walking  through  the  field  and  selecting  the 
greenest  heads,  the  kernels  can  be  separated  from  the 
chaff  when  rubbed  through  the  hands,  it  is  a  sure  sign 
that  the  grain  is  then  out  of  its  milky  state,  and  may 
be  reaped  with  safety ;  for  although  the  straw  may  be 
green  to  some  distance  downward  from  the  ear,  yet,  if 
it  be  quite  yellow  from  the  bottom  upward,  the  grain 
then  wants  no  further  nourishment  from  the  earth,  and, 
if  properly  harvested,  will  not  shrink.  The  young 
farmer  should  study  this  subject  most  thoroughly,  with 
this  book  in  one  hand  and  wheat  in  the  other.  He  will 
soon  learn  when  is  the  best  time  to  harvest  wheat,  and 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  343 

all  kinds  of  cereal  grain.     This  subject  should  be  studied 
thoroughly. 

TIME  TO  CUT  WHEAT. 

Rawson  Harmon,  an  experienced  wheat-grower  of 
Western  New  York,  writes,  in  relation  to  the  best  period 
to  harvest  wheat :  "  To  be  most  valuable  for  millers, 
wheat  should  be  cut  as  soon  as  the  berry  has  passed  from 
the  milky  to  the  doughy  state.  Wheat  cut  then,  con- 
tains more  gluten  and  less  starch,  than  if  it  were  not 
harvested  until  the  grain  is  fully  ripe.  If  wheat  is 
allowed  to  stand  uncut,  until  the  kernels  become  hard, 
the  gluten  is  diminished,  and  the  starch  is  increased, 
which  reduces  the  quantity  and  quality  of  the  flour. 
But  for  seed,  it  should  never  be  cut  till  fully  ripe. 
Starch  is  more  valuable  in  its  early  vegetation  than  the 
gluten.  One  cause  of  the  increase  of  smut,  of  late 
years,  is  the  cutting  of  wTheat  intended  for  seed,  too 
green.  Wheat  cut  before  it  is  fully  ripe,  should  not  be 
sown.  If  wheat-growers  would  adhere  strictly  to  the 
sowing  of  no  seed  that  is  cut  before  it  is  fully  ripe,  they 
would  find  smut  disappearing  without  the  preparation 
of  brine  and  lime.  The  farmer  that  neglects  to  brine 
and  lime  his  seed  wheat,  does  not  look  to  his  best  in- 
terest. Smutty  wheat  is  much  improved  by  not  cutting 
until  fully  ripe." 

CUTTING  WHEAT  TOO  GREEN. 

Although  there  is  but  little  danger  of  harvesting 
wheat  before  the  grain  is  really  fit  to  cut,  still  wheat 
may  be  cut  before  it  is  really  fit  to  harvest ;  and  in- 
stances have  been  recorded,  where  the  loss  sustained 
from  cutting  a  crop  too  green,  amounted  to  many  hun- 


344  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

dred  dollars.  J.  P.  Lowe  penned  the  following  facts : 
"  A  Southern  farmer  once  grew  three  hundred  acres  of 
wheat,  which,  in  June,  had  attained  a  huge  growth, 
and  appeared  remarkably  promising.  The  agricultural 
papers  were  then  recommending  to  harvest  early,  while 
the  grain  was  in  the  milky  state.  He  followed  their 
advice,  and  cut  the  whole  three  hundred  acres  as  soon 
as  the  juice  of  the  kernel  began  to  whiten.  The  grain 
shrank  badly.  He  estimated  his  loss,  from  too  early 
harvesting,  at  $5,000.  The  blunder,  as  estimated  by 
the  writer,  and  by  the  gentleman  himself,  who,  by  the 
way,  appeared  very  candid,  and  was  willing  to  take  his 
full  share  of  the  blame,  fairly  belonged,  about  one-half 
to  him,  and  the  other  half  to  the  agricultural  journals 
of  the  time.  The  papers  had  blown  too  strongly,  and 
altogether  too  indiscriminately,  on  the  benefits  of  early 
harvesting,  and  he  had  followed  their  advice  to  excess 
— had  cut  his  wheat  in  a  greener  state  than  they  had 
recommended — had  misunderstood  them,  to  an  extent 
which  he  freely  confessed  was  inexcusable." 

MANAGEMENT  OF  WHEAT. 

Beginners  frequently  inquire  whether  it  is  not  better 
to  cut  down  the  growing  wheat  at  harvest  time,  and 
allow  it  to  remain  in  the  swath  for  a  day  or  two,  before 
it  is  bound  into  sheaves.  But  experience  proves  that  it 
is  far  better  for  the  grain,  especially  if  the  straw,  when 
cradled,  is  somewhat  green,  to  be  bound  in  bundles,  and 
put  in  stocks,  than  to  let  it  lie  in  the  swath,  especially 
in  hot  and  dry  weather.  If  the  grain  be  exposed  in  the 
swath  to  the  burning  sun,  for  only  a  few  hours,  the 
intense  heat  scorches  the  soft  kernels,  and  dries  up  the 


THE    WHEAT   CTJLTUR1ST.  34:5 

moisture  in  the  grain  so  rapidly,  that  its  quality  is 
seriously  injured,  for  making  the  best  quality  of  flour. 
Besides  this,  the  grain  shrinks  far  more  than  it  would, 
were  the  heads  permitted  to  cure  in  the  shade.  If  the 
straw  be  bound  in  bundles,  and  the  sheaves  be  set  in 
neat  stooks  and  covered  with  caps  of  some  kind,  which 
shade  the  grain,  the  soft  kernels  will  cure  gradually,  be 
more  plump,  and  make  more  and  better  grain,  or  flour. 
Mr.  E.  A.  King,  a  practical  farmer  of  King's  Ferry, 
Cayuga  County,  N.  Y.,  penned  the  following  instructive 
suggestions  for  the  "  Cultivator  and  Country  Gentle- 
man "  :  "I  believe  it  is  a  conceded  fact  that  wheat,  be- 
fore it  is  perfectly  ripe,  gives  more  and  a  better  quality 
of  flour.  Still  the  yield  is  owing  greatly  to  the  manner 
in  which  the  grain  is  cured,  after  being  cut.  Every 
intelligent  wheat-grower  knows  that  grain  of  any  kind, 
cut  in  a  greenish  state,  and  allowed  to  remain  in  swath 
to  cure,  will  cause  the  kernels  to  shrink  and  be  of  an 
inferior  quality ;  while  if  bound  almost  immediately, 
or  before  it  gets  dry,  and  put  up  in  round  shocks  and 
capped,  the  grain  will  receive  the  juices  remaining  in 
the  green  straw,  and  become  round  and  plump.  To 
prove  the  benefit  derived  from  keeping  the  heads  of 
grain  from  being  exposed  to  the  air,  let  any  one  who 
has  practised  round  shocking  examine  the  heads  of  the 
top  cap  sheaf,  and  he  will  find  the  berries  much  less 
plump  and  heavy  than  those  taken  from  underneath. 
Where  wheat  is  struck  with  rust,  early  cutting,  imme- 
diate binding,  and  round  shocking  will  often  save  the 
crop,  when  if  put  up  in  long  shocks,  as  many  farmers 
do,  the  damage  would  be  great.  This  is  especially  the 
case  with  spring  wheat,  as  this  variety  is  with  us  more 
apt  to  rust  than  the  winter  variety,  as  the  time  of  ripen  - 

15* 


346  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

ing  usually  occurs  later,  when  there  is  a  greater  amount 
of  warmth  and  moisture,  which  is  no  doubt  the  cause 
of  the  grain  rusting.  To  prove  this,  wheat,  oats,  or 
barley,  sown  on  our  hilly  lake  land,  where  the  t  drainage 
is  quick  and  immediate,  are  seldom  struck  with  rust  of 
any  kind." 

If  wheat-growers  will  observe  this  suggestion,  they  will 
perceive  that  when  grain  is  harvested  and  cured  in  cloudy 
weather,  the  yield  will  always  be  larger  than  if  the  weather 
were  burning  hot  while  the  grain  is  curing.  If  wheat 
could  be  cut  when  the^  straw  is  quite  green  and  cured 
under  shelter,  without  being  put  into  a  mass  so  large 
as  to  heat,  we  should  perceive  a  vast  difference  in  the 
quality  of  the  flour  which  is  made  of  the  grain.  When 
grain  is  designed  for  seed,  I  always  let  it  lie  in  the 
swath,  one  day  or  more,  for  the  purpose  of  curing  the 
straw  as  soon  as  practicable,  so  that  the  sheaves  might 
be  garnered  immediately. 

SUGGESTIONS  ABOUT  GRAIN  CKADLES. 

Every  man  who  ever  uses  a  cradle,  ought  to  under- 
stand why  every  part  is  made  as  it  is — with  its  peculiar 
form.  He  ought  to  be  able  to  tell  what  is  the  best 
form  of  the  scythe,  and  the  best  curvature  of  the  fingers, 
and  how  the  fingers  should  stand  with  reference  to  the 
scythe.  Although  the  great  biilk  of  harvesting  grain 
will  probably  be  done  with  horse-power,  still  grain 
cradles  will  always  be  needed,  even  if  horse-reapers  are 
used  to  cut  nearly  the  whole  crop.  Cradles  must  be 
employed  to  cut  the  grain  around  stumps,  trees,  along 
fences,  to  cut  the  corners  of  a  piece  of  grain,  when  the 
reaper  is  in  motion,  and  so  forth.  No  farmer  can  get 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  347 

along  satisfactorily,  without  a  good  grain  cradle ;  and  it 
is  important  for  a  laborer  to  know  what  constitutes  a 
good  cradle,  how  to  put  it  in  good  order,  and  how  to  use 
it,  so  as  to  cut  grain  and  lay  it  in  a  swath  in  a  neat  and 
workmanlike  manner. 

The  most  correct  form  of  a  cradle  scythe  is  a  point 
which  should  be  thoroughly  understood  and  appreciated, 
whether  one  can  obtain  a  scythe  of  the  desired  forir 
or  not. 


FIG.  54.— The  best  form  of  Cradle  Scythe. 

A  very  straight  scythe  is  quite  as  objectionable  as  one 
that  has  too  much  curvature.  When  it  is  too  straight 
on  the  cutting  edge,  it  will  cut  too  squarely  across  the 
standing  straws ;  whereas  the  cut  should  be  made  in  a 
drawing  or  sliding  manner.  If  the  scythe  be  straight 
on  the  edge,  the  fingers  must  of  necessity  be  correspond 
ingly  straight.  The  illustration  herewith  given,  Fig. 
54,  represents  a  cradle  scythe  of  a  good  form.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  cutting  edge  from  a  to  5,  about  one 
foot  in  length,  is  a  part  of  the  arc  of  one  circle  ;  and  the 
other  part,  from  b  to  0,  is  the  arc  of  another  circle  of  the 
same  size,  but  in  a  different  position. 

It  may  be  seen  by  measuring,  that  these  circles  are 
about  ten  feet  in  diameter,  and  that  the  distance  from 
d,  in  the  dotted  line,  to  e,  when  a  scythe  is  four  feet 
long,  is  about  two  and  a  half  inches.  A  cradle  scythe 
of  this  shape  works  well,  if  it  is  properly  hung  on  the 
snath,  and  the  cutting  edge  kept  in  order. 


348  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

The  question  is  frequently  asked  why  a  cradle  scythe 
is  made  broader  from  the  back  to  the  cutting  edge,  than 
a  grass  scythe  ?  The  object  of  this  is  twofold.  The 
first  is  to  support  the  grain  after  it  is  cut  off;  £,nd  sec- 
ond, to  furnish  ample  room  for  the  straw  to  slide  back 
from  the  cutting  edge,  against  the  fingers,  after  it  has 
been  cut  off.  If  a  scythe,  no  wider  than  a  grass  scythe, 
is  attached  to  a  cradle,  as  soon  as  the  space  from  the 
fingers  to  the  cutting  edge  is  filled  with  straw,  the 
scythe  cannot  cut  off  any  more  straw  ;  therefore,  as  the 
cradle  is  "  full,"  it  must  slide  over  the  rest  of  the  clip. 

If  the  fingers  do  not  correspond  with  the  curve  of  the 
scythe,  a  cradle  will  not  work  well,  even  if  the  scythe 
is  made  according  to  the  most  perfect  pattern.  Fig.  55 
represents  a  scythe  of  the  same  form  as  Fig.  54.  The 
object  of  it  is  to  show  the  relative  length  and  curvature 
of  the  first  finger  of  the  cradle,  when  compared  with 
the  form  of  the  scythe.  The  inside  of  the  finger  should 


FIG.  55. — Best  form  and  position  of  lower  finger. 

extend  at  least  two  inches  beyond  the  back  of  the  scythe ; 
and  it  is  best  to  have  the  finger  from  one  to  two  inches 
shorter  than  the  scythe.  The  small  end  should  stand 
over  the  point  of  the  scythe,  as  represented  in  the 
figure,  and  be  from  one  to  two  inches  above  the  blade 
at  the  point.  If  the  first  finger  rests  hard  on  the  scythe, 
it  sometimes  prevents  the  grain  discharging  freely  when 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

the  cradle  is  in  use.     The  point  of  the  first  finger  should 
always  stand  as  far  back  as  possible,  and  not  catch  any 
straws  beyond  the   scythe.      When   some   straws   are 
pulled  down  and  not  cut  off,  it  shows  that  some  of  the 
fingers  stand  out  too  far.     On  the  contrary,  when  the 
cradle  does  not  gather  all  the  grain  that  is  cut  off,  some 
of  the  fingers  are  in  too  far,  or  are  too  short.     Some- 
times every  finger  stands  exactly  in  its  most   proper 
position,  and  the  cradle  does  not  gather  all  the  grain. 
This  can  be  obviated  in  two  ways:   first,  by  using  a 
shorter  scythe ;  or  second,  by  dulling  about  two  inches 
of  the  cutting  edge  at  the  point.     Sometimes  the  scythe 
and  lower  finger  are  all  right,  but  the  other  fingers  are 
so  short  that  the  cradle  does  not  gather  all  the  grain 
the  scythe  cuts  off.     This  difficulty  can  be  obviated  in 
no  other  way  than  by  attaching  a  scythe  two  or  three 
inches  shorter,  and  cutting  off  the  lower  finger  to  cor- 
respond with  the  scythe,  as  shown  by  Fig.  55,  and  to 
be  also  of  the  correct  proportional  length  with  the  other 
fingers.     Fingers  may  be  "  too  crooked,"  or  too  much 
curved  near  the  points.     It  is  a  common  occurrence  to 
see  cradle  fingers  like  a  sleigh  runner — having  nearly  all 
the  curvature  within  twelve  to  twenty  inches  of  the 
ends.     Cradles  having  such  fingers  never  work  well,  as 
they  carry  most  of  the  grain,  after  it  is  cut  off,  near  the 
forward  part  of  the  cradle,  which  causes  it  to  work  hard, 
and  to  hang  too  heavily  on  the  point,  as  well  as  to  hold 
the  grain  too  much,  when  it  is  being  laid  in  a  swath. 
When  selecting  a  cradle,  it   is  better  to  get   a  short 
scythe  than  one  over  four  feet  long.     These  two  cuts 
of  scythes  and  some  of  the  matter,  I  prepared  for  the 
"  American  Agriculturist "  when  I  was  one  of  the  edi- 
torial corps  of  that  paper. 


350  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


GRINDING  CRADLE  SCYTHES. 

"  Now,  -while  he  brushes  the  dew  from  the  clover, 
Lay  the  dull  scythe  to  the  steel-gnawing  atone ; 
Turn  with  a  will,  boys,  over  and  over; 
Now  the  edge  wires  and  the  grinding  ia  done." 

BURLEIGII. 

In  my  Young  Farmer's  Manual,  the  reader  will  find 
a  diagram  of  a  scythe,  with  more  extended  remarks 
about  putting  a  scythe  in  order,  than  I  shall  pen  in  this 
place.  There,  the  philosophical  reasons  are  given  for 
grinding  a  scythe,  as  directed.  But  I  will  simply  cau- 
tion beginners,  as  well  as  some  old  heads,  who  think 
what  they  don't  know  is  not  worth  the  trouble  of  learn- 
ing, not  to  spoil  an  excellent  cradle  scythe  by  grinding 
the  blade  too  thin.  A  large  proportion  of  the  cradle 
scythes  that  are  condemned  as  poor  stuff,  or  as  having 
a  poor  temper,  were  ruined  by  grinding  them  too  thin. 
Scythes  are  often  ground  and  ground  to  death,  by  men 
who  don't  know  how  to  put  a  jack-knife  in  order. 
Then,  because  the  cutting  edge  fails,  after  the  blade  has 
.been  ground  so  thin  that  there  is  not  steel  enough  to 
give  proper  stiffness  to  the  basil  of  the  scythe,  the  tool 
is  condemned.  Do  not  spoil  scythes  by  grinding. 

How  TO  CRADLE  GRAIN. 

"  All  strike  as  one,  with  a  symphonant  cadence ; 

All  step  at  once,  with  a  measured  advance ; 
Bowing  together  the  brawny  arm's  aidance, 
In  the  slow  awing  of  the  shoulders'  expanse." 

BTTBLEIGH. 

A  gang  of  skilful  cradlers,  rakers,  and  binders,  such 
as  we  used  to  see  before  the  horse-harvesters  took  the 
place  of  the  cradle,  is  a  pleasant  and  cheering  sight. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  351 

A  good  cradler  must  exercise  no  little  skill  in  adjusting 
every  part  of  the  cradle  to  hang  exactly  right,  or  he 
cannot  do  neat  work.  Do  not  put  the  scythe  and  fin- 
gers out  too  far,  especially  if  the  grain  does  not  stand 
erect.  When  all  the  parts  of  a  cradle  are  made  right, 
properly  adjusted,  and  correctly  handled,  almost  every 
straw  will  be  gathered,  as  the  scythe  cuts  them  off. 

A  good  cradler  walks  close  up  to  the  standing  grain — • 
within  a  foot  of  it.  He  keeps  his  body  nearly  erect. 
He  puts  his  right  foot  forward  when  he  steps,  and  never 
the  left  foot  first.  There  is  a  philosophical  reason  for 
this.  I  studied  it  out  when  I  first  began  to  cradle, 
when  I  was  only  fourteen  years  of  age.  Point-in  low 
and  point-out  low.  Cut  the  stubble  a  uniform  height 
across  the  swath ;  and  do  not  scoop  out  a  swath,  by 
pointing-in  high  and  pointing-out  high.  Keep  the 
scythe  level ;  and  bring  the  cradle  around,  at  every  clip, 
as  close  to  the  left  leg  as  you  can.  Lay  the  grain  evenly 
at  the  butts ;  and  do  not  throw  the  tops  around  too  far. 
Let  your  movements  be  rather  slow  and  careful,  until 
you  can  make  every  clip  with  as  much  precision  as  if  the 
work  were  done  by  machinery.  There  are  many  things 
about  cradling  which  I  cannot  write  out;  but  which 
can  be  learned  only  by  the  actual  use  of  a  good  cradle. 

CRADLE  FINGERS,  AND  HOW  TO  MAKE  THEM. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  cradle  fingers:  bent  and  nat- 
ural crook.  Those  having  a  natural  crook  are  made  by 
first  sawing  the  log  into  plank  thick  enough  for  four 
fingers,  or  about  two  and  three-fourths  inches  thick. 
Then,  pieces  are  sawed  out  of  the  plank,  with  a  scroll 
saw,  of  the  desired  curvature,  which  are  then  slitted  the 


352  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

other  way  with  a  small  circular  saw.  The  fingers  then 
have  square  corners,  which  are  dressed  off  by  hand,  or 
machinery,  which  does  the  work  very  neatly  and  rap- 

idly- 

Bent  fingers  are  made  of  very  tough  timber,  first 
sawed  into  tapering  strips  just  large  enough  for  four 
fingers.  These  pieces  are  then  steamed  and  bent,  and 
sawed  into  fingers  the  same  as  if  they  were  of  natural 
crook.  While  the  wood  is  still  hot  and  on  the  form,  or 
clamp,  boiled  linseed  oil  is  applied  to  the  outside  sur- 
face, as  long  as  the  wood  will  absorb  it.  This  is  de- 
signed to  prevent  the  fingers  from  straightening  out, 
after  the  cradle  is  finished.  The  great  objection  to 
straight  fingers  is,  most  of  the  grain  that  is  cut  at  one 
clip,  will  be  gathered  and  held  by  the  fingers  so  far  to- 
ward the  point  of  the  scythe  that  a  cradle  will  not  work 
well,  unless  it  cuts  short  clips ;  whereas,  if  the  fingers 
have  a  proper  degree  of  curvature,  the  grain  will  slide 
back  toward  the  heel  of  the  cradle,  as  it  is  cut,  thus 
enabling  the  cradler  to  cut  a  larger  clip  at  once,  and  to 
handle  the  grain  with  greater  facility.  Another  thing 
of  primary  importance  in  the  form  of  cradle  fingers  is, 
they  should  be  more  curved  than  the  back  of  the  scythe. 
See  remarks  on  pages  348  and  349. 

RAKING  AND  BINDING  WHEAT. 

"  The  reaper  binds  the  bearded  ear, 
And  gathers  in  the  golden  year  ; 

And  where  the  sheaves  are  glancing, 
The  farmer's  heart  is  dancing." 

In  order  to  rake  and  bind  grain  satisfactorily,  a  man 
must  possess  a  good  degree  of  skill  and  tact  to  make 
every  movement  of  his  body  and  every  motion  of  his 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  353 

rake,  feet,  legs,  and  hands  aid  him  in  his  labor.  He 
must  not  make  any  false  motions,  nor  work  like  a  man 
beating  the  air.  Every  motion  must  be  easy  and  effect- 
ive. Why  will  a  small,  light  man  frequently  rake  and 
bind  as  fast  as  two  large,  heavy  men  ?  Because  he  knows 
how  to  do  it ;  while  the  others  alluded  to  are  awkward, 
and  labor  to  a  disadvantage.  It  used  to  be  a  common 
occurrence  to  see  a  small  man  raking  and  binding  in 
heavy  wheat,  and  keeping  up  close  to  a  good  cradler. 
I  have  frequently  heard  my  father  tell  of  his  ambition 
and  skill  in  raking  and  binding  wheat  after  a  good 
cradler,  when  the  country  was  new,  and  the  wheat  was 
as  high  as  their  heads  over  the  entire  fields ;  and  that 
often,  when  on  a  strife — as  cradlers  were  accustomed  to 
"  race  it "  in  those  days — he  said  he  has  raked  and 
bound  the  swath  alone,  and  took  the  last  clip  off  the 
cradle,  as  he  closed  up  every  sheaf.  And  it  is  not  in- 
credible; for,  when  I  was  a  lad,  it  was  an  unusual 
occurrence  for  two  hands  to  follow  one  cradler.  Some- 
times a  boy  would  be  employed  to  rake  the  swath  into 
gavels,  for  another  boy  or  man  to  bind. 

I  well  remember,  when  I  was  fourteen  years  old,  as  it 
was  considered  too  hard  work  for  a  boy  like  me  to  rake 
and  bind,  and  keep  up  with  a  man  who  cradled  wheat, 
that  another  boy  was  hired  to  assist  me.  He  was  to 
rake  the  gavels  and  I  to  bind.  But  he  was  so  unac- 
countably awkward,  and  made  such  miserable  work  at 
raking,  that  I  refused  to  have  his  assistance,  as  both  of 
us  could  not  keep  up  with  the  cradler.  He  made  such 
ill-shapen  gavels,  that  I  was  required  to  spend  more 
time  in  straightening  up  the  gavels  than  I  would  occupy 
in  raking  them  myself.  Therefore,  I  performed  the 
task  alone,  in  good  wheat ;  have  often  done  it  since  ; 


354  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

and  I  never  met  with  a  cradler  whom  I  could  not  follow 
around  a  ten-acre  field,  all  day,  keep  close  to  him,  and 
do  the  raking  and  binding  in  a  neat  and  workmanlike 
manner,  and  help  shock  the  sheaves  after  the  grain 
was  all  cut. 

I  do  not  record  these  facts  to  boast  of  what  I  have 
done,  but  simply  to  show  the  superior  skill  that  was  ex- 
ercised when  I  was  a  young  man,  when  compared  with 
what  we  now  perceive  among  those  who  rake  and  bind 
grain.  In  order  to  labor  at  this  kind  of  work  econom- 
ically and  profitably,  a  man  must  understand  how  to 
take  advantage  of  every  circumstance.  Raking  and 
binding  grain  is  a  part  of  harvesting  that  should  be 
neatly  performed.  If  a  man  binds  poorly,  or  does  not 
rake  clean,  or  makes  a  great  many  false  motions  which 
occupy  time,  consume  his  strength,  but  do  not  further 
his  labor,  he  is  an  unprofitable  hand,  and  should  be 
taught  the  first  principles  of  raking  and  binding  skil- 
fully and  expeditiously. 

THE  SIZE  OF  THE   GAVELS. 

The  importance  of  making  the  sheaves  as  nearly  of 
a  uniform  size  as  is  practicable,  should  be  frequently 
impressed  on  the  mind  of  every  man  and  boy  who 
binds  grain,  or  who  only  rakes  gavels.  If  the  sheaves 
are  to  be  stacked,  it  is  far  more  important  that  the 
gavels  should  be  of  a  uniform  size,  than  if  they  are  to 
be  stored  in  a  barn.  For  this  reason,  care  should  be 
exercised  when  grain  is  being  cut  down  with  a  reaper, 
to  make  the  gavels — neither  too  large  nor  too  small — 
but  of  a  fair  size.  It  is  exceedingly  inconvenient  for  a 
stacker  to  make  a  good  stack  of  sheaves  of  various 
sizes,  as  there  will  be  holes  where  the  small  sheaves  are 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTCKIST.  355 

laid.  And  if  tlie  sheaves  are  not  of  a  uniform  length, 
even  an  experienced  stacker  will  be  liable  to  build  an 
ill-shapen  stack,  that  will  not  turn  the  rain  so  well,  as 
if  it  had  been  made  of  sheaves  of  a  uniform  size.  It  is 
of  eminent  importance  that  the  man  who  makes  the 
gavels  should  understand  all  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of  having  sheaves  too  long,  or  too  large,  or  too 
small,  and  poorly  bound. 

My  own  rule  always  has  been,  to  make  the  gavels  as 
large  as  they  can  be  bound  conveniently.  This  thought 
is  always  kept  in  mind  when  the  reaper  cuts  the  grain, 
as  well  as  when  the  gavels  are  raked  by  hand.  If  gavels 
be  so  large  that  &  binder  cannot  reach  around  one  with- 
out making  extra  exertions,  he  will  lose  time  and  fall 
behind.  On  the  contrary,  if  the  gavels  be  made  too 
small,  too  much  time  will  be  consumed  in  making  bands 
and  binding  the  sheaves.  Many  laborers  do  not  seem 
to  consider  that  it  makes  any  difference  whether  they 
make  twenty  sheaves  in  going  across  the  field,  or 
whether  the  same  amount  of  straw  is  bound  into  forty 
bundles,  requiring  nearly  double  the  time. 

If  the  straw  be  so  short  that  a  double  band  will  not 
extend  around  a  gavel,  of  course,  the  length  of  the  straw 
must  be  the  guide  in  determining  the  size  of  the  gavels. 
I  always  aimed  to  make  the  sheaves  as  large  as  they 
could  conveniently  be  bound,  for  the  purpose  of  econ- 
omizing labor.  Raking  and  binding  only  a  few  sheaves 
is  really  a  small  matter.  But,  when  a  quantity  of  grain 
is  bound  into  4,000  sheaves,  when  it  might  have  been 
put  into  3,000,  without  any  inconvenience  at  all,  we  per- 
ceive a  loss  of  time  and  expense  required  to  bind  1,000 
sheaves.  Besides  this,  there  is  a  loss  of  time  in  loading 
and  stacking.  If  a  certain  amount  of  grain  sufficient 


356  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

to  make  3,000  sheaves  be  bound  into  4,000  sheaves,  it 
will  cost  nearly  one-quarter  more  to  handle  it  when 
securing  the  crop,  either  in  stacks  or  in  barns. 

4 

How  TO  HAKE  GAVELS. 

Beginners — whether  boys  or  men — should  be  instruct- 
ed how  to  rake  gavels  neatly,  expeditiously,  and  by  ex- 
erting the  least  strength.  There  is  an  awkward  and 
laborious  way  to  rake  gavels ;  and  there  is  a  neat  and 
easy  way  of  raking.  The  man  who  practises  the  for- 
mer, will  work  hard  all  day  and  perform  but  little  ; 
while  the  latter  will  move  along  with  amazing  ease  and 
rapidity,  and  perform  his  task  in  the  most  satisfactory 
manner. 

Two  points  should  be  kept  in  mind,  one  of  which  is 
to  keep  the  butts  even,  and  the  other,  to  keep  the  gavel 
from  running  out  much  longer  than  the  straw.  In  or- 
der to  rake  a  gavel  easily,  keep  the  rake-handle  nearly 
straight  up  and  down,  and  move  the  leg  that  is  against 
the  butts,  along  with  the  gavel.  This  will  keep  the  butts 
even,  and  the  gavel  of  a  uniform  length.  But,  if  a  man 
does  not  keep  one,  or  both  legs  against  the  butts  of  the 
straw,  the  gavel  will  be  much  longer  than  the  straw ; 
and  the  sheaves  will  be  awkward  things  to  stook,  as  they 
will  not  stand  erect  without  help. 

When  making  gavels  of  grain  that  is  cut  by  a  reaper, 
if  the  straw  be  of  a  uniform  length  and  weight,  it  will 
not  be  difficult  to  gauge  the  size  of  the  gavels,  as  a  little 
observation  and  experience  will  enable  an  expert  work- 
man to  make  them  all  of  a  uniform  size.  But,  if  half 
the  gavels  be  made  too  large,  and  the  remainder  too 
small,  the  labor  of  binding  will  be  greatly  increased. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTTJBIST.  357 

When  closing  up  a  machine  gavel, .  or  when  raking  a 
swath,  let  the  head  of  the  rake  be  always  kept  as  nearly 
parallel,  as  practicable,  with  the  straw.  It  is  far  easier 
to  keep  the  butts  of  the  straw  even,  when  making  a 
gavel,  than  it  is  to  even  them  with  a  rake,  after  the 
gavel  is  made. 

MAKING  BANDS. 

.  It  may  seem  trivial  to  dwell  on  the  various  manipu- 
lations incident  to  harvesting  grain;  but  laborers  should 
understand  how  to  perform  every  operation  with  the 
greatest  possible  ease,  and  in  the  shortest  space  of  time. 
Some  men  will  make  a  band  and  bind  a  gavel,  neatly, 
before  another  man  can  make  his  band.  Some  binders 
separate  a  handful  of  straw  into  two  equal  parts,  and 
tie  the  top  ends  together.  But  that  is  a  slow  and  awk- 
ward way.  Others  double  the  ears  of  grain  over,  and 
catch  them  between  the  gavel  and  the  band.  But  the 
lock  is  liable  to  become  loose,  when  the  gavel  is  being 
bound,  or  when  the  sheaves  are  handled. 

The  mode  adopted  by  all  quick  binders,  and  the  most 
expeditious  way  to  make  a  band  is,  to  take  a  small  hand- 
ful from  the  top  of  the  gavel,  and  while  separating  it, 
hold  back  other  straws  with  the  other  hand.  Then 
grasp  it  with  the  left  hand  a  little  below  the  heads,  and, 
dividing  the  straw  with  the  other  hand,  take  the  half  of 
the  band  at  the  right  side,  carry  it  quickly  to  the  left 
side  of  the  other  half,  so  that  the  left  half  will  rest  on 
the  back  of  the  right  hand.  Now  elevate  the  right 
hand  above  the  left,  thus  throwing  the  butt  ends  of  the 
branches  of  the  band  into  the  air  above  both  hands. 
Pass  the  portion  of  the  band  in  the  right  hand  around 
all  the  heads  of  grain,  and  place  the  right  thumb  on 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURI8T. 


them,  and  the  lock  will  never  separate  when  binding, 
if  it  is  well  made. 


BINDING  GAVELS  OF  GRAEST. 

I  know  of  but  few  little  things  that  are  more  perplex- 
ing and  trying  to  the  patience  of  an  ambitious  farmer, 
than  poorly  bound  sheaves  of  grain.  Sheaves  that  are 
poorly  bound,  will  fall  apart  when  one  is  making  stooks. 
They  unbind  when  the  pitcher  is  heaving  theni  on  the 
load.  The  bands  loosen  when  the  loader  is  placing  the 
sheaves,  and  from  the  time  of  binding,  till  the  grain  is 
laid  down  to  be  thrashed,  poor  binding  is  an  intolerable 
nuisance  ;  and  every  good  man  whose  ambition  has  not 
been  paralyzed  by  pitching  half-bound  sheaves  will 
breathe  out  grumbling  and  muttering,  and  sometimes 
denunciation  without  measure,  at  such  perfunctory  and 
miserable  work. 

I  was  always  accustomed  to  tell  men  and  boys, 
who  bound  grain  for  me,  If  you  do  not  bind  one  hun- 
dred sheaves  in  a  day,  do  put  the  bands  in  the  middle 
and  bind  the  sheaves  tight.  In  order  to  have  employes 
work  advantageously,  I  always  would  spend  an  hour 
with  an  awkward  laborer,  instructing  him  how  to  make 
his  band ;  how  to  put  it  around  the  gavel ;  how  to  take 
hold  of  the  ends ;  and  how  to  form  the  lock  and  to  make 
the  tuck. 

Now,  in  order  to  bind  a  gavel  quickly,  take  the  band 
in  one  hand,  throw  it  forward  of,  and  around  the  gavel, 
while  the  left  hand  is  passed  beneath  the  opposite  side, 
palm  upward,  as  shown  by  figure  56,  grasping  the  band 
in  such  a  manner  that  its  hold  need  not  be  relinquished 
until  the  sheaf  is  bound.  When  the  hand  grasps  the 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJRIST. 


359 


band  so  that  the  hold  must  be  relinquished  and  renewed, 
it  often  occupies  time  enough  to   finish   binding  the 


FIG.  56.— A  Skilful  Binder. 


sheaf.     When  the  right  hand  is  passing  the  band  around 
the  bundle,  if  the  stubble  is  sharp  and  stiff,  keep  the 


360  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

band  beneath  the  palm.  By  this  means  the  tender  skir 
on  the  back  of  the  fingers  and  hand,  will  be  protected 
from  the  sharp  stubble. 

There  are  in  common  use  not  less  than  three  different 
modes  of  binding.  One  is,  passing  the  right-hand  end 
over  the  thumb,  with  a  double  twist  and  tuck;  the 
next  is,  passing  it  under  the  wrist,  with  a  double  twist 
and  tuck ;  and  the  third  is,  passing  it  beneath  the  left 
hand,  making  a  nip  about  the  left-hand  end  of  the  band, 
and  a  tuck  beneath  it,  or,  in  common  parlance, "  a  nip  and 
tuck."  Sometimes  binding  over  the  thumb  is  perform- 
ed with  a  single  twist  and  tuck.  But,  when  bound 
in  this  manner,  unless  the  bands  are  drawn  very  tightly, 
sheaves  are  liable  to  unbind. 

Every  laborer  should  learn  to  bind  sheaves  over  the 
thumb,  as  he  will  be  able  to  bind  a  larger  number  of 
sheaves  in  an  hour  than  if  he  binds  under  the  wrist. 
When  binding  a  sheaf  over  the  thumb,  put  one  knee  on 
the  gavel  and  draw  the  band  as  tightly  as  practicable, 
and  hold  both  ends  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  forefin- 
ger of  the  same  hand  grasping  the  right-hand  end  of  the 
band.  Now,  while  the  left  hand  holds  both  ends  of  the 
band,  whirl  the  right-hand  end  of  the  band  around  the 
other  end  with  the  right  hand,  giving  them  a  twist,  or 
two  twists,  which  is  better ;  and  tuck  the  twisted  end 
under  the  band. 

The  second  mode  of  binding  is  done  with  the  left  knee 
on  the  sheaf;  the  right-hand  end  of  the  band  is  carried 
under  the  wrist  of  the  left  hand,  and  held  by  letting  the 
wrist  drop  upon  it,  until  the  two  ends  are  twisted  togeth- 
er, and  tucked  under.  Sheaves  are  bound  in  the  "  nip 
and  tuck  "  style  by  passing  the  end  of  the  band  in  the 
right  hand  under  the  left  hand,  then  holding  it  with  the 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  361 

left  hand  resting  on  the  end  of  the  band,  when  the  right 
hand  releases  its  hold,  and  renews  it  again  above  the  left 
hand.  Then  the  left-hand  end  of  the  band  is  bent  over 
toward  the  binder,  while  the  other  end  is  brought 
around  it  and  tucked  beneath  the  band  on  the  side 
toward  the  binder.  "When  sheaves  are  thus  bound,  the 
left-hand  end  of  the  band  forms  a  good  handle  for  carry- 
ing the  sheaf. 

LABORING  DISADVANTAGEOUSLY. 

When  a  laborer  is  greatly  fatigued  by  toiling  in  the 
hot  sunshine,  every  movement  is  a  tax  on  his  energies. 
It  is  fatiguing  to  stoop  down  and  pick  up  one's  rake. 
Most  binders  always  throw  their  rake  down  on  the 
ground,  every  time  they  bind  a  sheaf.  Of  course,  they 
are  obliged  to  spend  the  time  and  endure  the  fatigue 
required  to  stoop  and  pick  up  their  rake  as  often  as 
they  make  a  sheaf. 

Now,  if  an  active  man  will  rake  and  bind  one  thou- 
sand sheaves  in  twelve  hours,  and  if  it  consumes  two 
seconds  of  time  to  stoop  and  pick  up  his  rake  at  each 
sheaf,  he  must  necessarily  endure  the  fatigue  of  picking 
one  thousand  rakes  off  the  ground,  which  will  consume 
not  less  than  thirty-three  minutes,  besides  the  useless 
fatigue.  During  that  length  of  time,  he  would  be  able 
to  rake  and  bind  not  less  than  fifty  sheaves,  which  is 
not  a  little  saving  with  many  hands. 

While  a  sheaf  is  being  bound,  the  rake-handle  should 
always  rest  against  the  shoulder  of  the  binder,  as  shown 
by  the  last  figure.  This  makes  it  easier  work  for  him 
than  to  lay  down  and  pick  up  his  rake  at  every  sheaf. 
As  soon  as  a  sheaf  is  bound,  and  the  binder  straightens 

16 


362 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


his  body,  his  rake  is  where  he  can  take  hold  of  it,  with- 
out stooping  to  pick  it  oft'  the  ground. 

A  beginner  may  experience  a  little  difficulty  in  keep- 
ing the  rake-handle  against  his  shoulder,  while  he  is 
binding  a  gavel ;  but,  by  exercising  a  little  patience  and 
perseverance,  a  laborer  will  be  able  to  work  all  day,  and 
not  be  required  to  stoop  down  and  pick  up  his  rake  a 
single  time.  When  we  have  devised  every  possible 
means  to  lighten  the  labor  of  raking  and  binding  grain, 
we  find  there  is  a  great  deal  of  hard  work  still  to  be 
performed. 

When  gavels  are  neatly  made,  and  bound  tight  with 
the  band  in  the  middle  of  the  sheaf,  as  represented  by 

the  accompanying  figure  of 
a  sheaf  of  wheat,  every 
sheaf  will  stand  alone,  and 
it  will  require  the  force  of  a 
strong  wind  to  blow  sheaves 
over.  But  when  the  band 
is  placed  near  the  butts  of 
the  straw,  sheaves  will  often 
need  rebinding,  before  they 
can  be  stored.  Beginners 
who  are  slack,  poor  binders, 
can  imitate  this  illustration 
of  a  sheaf,  until  they  are 
able  to  make  handsome 
sheaves  which  will  stand 
erect  without  a  boy  to  hold  them  when  no  wind  blows. 
The  tuck  of  the  band  is  shown,  in  this  figure  of  a  sheaf, 
as  well  as  it  can  be  represented  on  paper.  Beginners 
should  see  that  the  ends  of  the  band  are  thrust  under 
the  band,  so  as  to  hold  well. 


FIG.  57.— A  Sheaf  neatly  Bound. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST.  363 


A  STRAW-BAND  MAKER. 

Many  farmers  experience  great  inconvenience  for 
want  of  long  straw  for  making  bands  to  bind  bundles 
of  straw  when  thrashing  grain,  as  well  as  for  binding 
stalks  of  Indian  corn.  Making  straw  bands  by  twist- 
ing them  out  of  short  straw  by  hand  is  a  slow  and 
tedious  process.  But  by  employing  a  twister,  as  shown 
by  the  accompanying  illustration,  straw  bands  can  be 


FIG.  58.— Band  Maker. 

made  with  satisfactory  rapidity.  With  such  an  instru- 
ment, a  man  and  small  boy  can  make  a  large  number 
of  bands  in  a  day,  when  they  have  no  other  employ- 
ment ;  and  thus  have  them  ready  for  use  at  any  future 
period. 

The  manner  of  making  bands  with  this  hook  and 
crank  is  as  follows :  Secure  a  handful  of  straw  or  hay 
to  the  hook,  while  one  person  holds  it  with  one  hand, 


364  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

and  turns  the  crank  with  the  other.  The  person  who 
lets  the  straw  and  hay  out,  should  be  seated  on  the  floor, 
with  a  lapful  before  him.  The  twister  walks  backward, 
away  from  the  layer,  as  the  length  of  the  band  increases. 
The  operation  is  similar  to  making  ropes.  The  straw 
or  hay  should  be  wetted  before  it  is  twisted  into  bands, 
as  the  straws  will  not  be  so  elastic  as  when  dry.  When 
wet,  the  straws  will  be  very  pliable ;  and  a  very  smooth 
band  can  be  made  fifty  feet  long  in  two  minutes,  if  a 
person  can  lay  out  the  straw  skilfully. 

Make  each  band  about  fifty  feet  long ;  lay  it  down  on 
the  ground ;  let  it  dry  one  or  two  days ;  then,  with  a 
sharp  axe,  cut  the  long  bands  or  ropes  into  pieces  of 
suitable  length  for  binding  sheaves.  The  pieces  may  be 
four,  five,  six,  or  more  feet  in  length.  The  desired  size 
of  the  bundles  must  determine  the  length  of  the  bands. 
After  the  long  hay  ropes  have  become  dry,  the  bands 
will  not  untwist  when  sheaves  are  being  bound. 

To  make  such  a  straw-band  maker,  procure  a  piece 
of  half-inch  round  iron,  twenty  inches  long.  Make  a 
-crank  on  one  end  and  a  hook  on  the  other.  Any  black- 
smith will  do  the  work  for  a  dime.  The  circle  of  the 
hook  should  be  about  two  inches  in  diameter,  formed  -as 
herewith  illustrated.  The  length  of  the  crank  should 
not  be  over  six  inches.  If  the  crank  be  too  long,  the 
twister  will  find  it  far  more  fatiguing  to  his  arms  than 
if  the  crank  were  short. 

For  a  handle,  bore  a  hole  through  a  piece  of  straight- 
grained  hard  wood,  shave  it  true  and  smooth,  split  it  in 
two,  through  the  hole,  place  it  on  the  shank  of  the 
twister,  and  glue  the  edges  together.  Put  a  handle  also 
on  the  wrist-pin.  Persons  who  have  never  made  bands 
with  such  a  device,  will  be  surprised  to  learn  how  won- 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURI8T.  365 

derfully  making  bands  in  this  manner  will  facilitate  the 
labor  of  binding  sheaves  of  any  kind. 

A  BINDER'S  DAY'S  WORK. 

Before  horse-reapers  were  employed  to  cut  our  grain, 
when  young  boys  were  ambitious  to  rake  and  bind 
grain,  six  hundred  sheaves  were  considered  a  boy's  day's 
work,  and  a  thousand  sheaves  for  a  man.  But  if  a  man 
rakes  and  binds  one  thousand  sheaves  in  the  course  of 
twelve  hours,  he  must  labor  faithfully  and  understand 
how  to  make  his  band  in  the  best  and  most  expeditious 
manner,  and  how  to  bind  by  exerting  the  least  strength, 
and  in  the  shortest  period  of  time.  A  laborer  who  re- 
ceives a  man's  wages,  ought  to  rake  and  bind  three 
sheaves  in  two  minutes,  on  an  average  of  the  minutes  in 
the  working  hours.  Ambitious  men  will  do  more  than 
this.  But  muttering  laborers,  who  are  always  fearful 
that  they  are  going  to  do  too  much,  and  who  will  let  a 
sheaf  drop  half  bound,  when  the  dinner-horn  blows,  will 
not  rake  and  bind  more  than  five  hundred  sheaves  in  a 
day ;  and  even  one-fourth  of  those  will  have  to  be  re- 
bound before  they  are  put  in  the  mow.  In  these  days 
of  agricultural  machinery,  men  and  boys  ought  to  edu- 
cate their  ambition  to  accomplish  as  much  as  laborers 
could  perform  when  their  fathers  were  young.  But  in 
most  instances,  our  old  men,  now  in  their  dotage,  will 
mow  around  our  common  mowers,  every  ten  rods ;  and 
cradle  around  them  twice  in  cutting  across  a  ten-acre 
field ;  and  cut  their  corners  at  the  end  ;  and  then  cradle 
around  to  the  place  of  starting,  and  take  a  refreshing 
nap  in  the  shade  before  their  competitors  come  up,  and 
are  ready  for  another  start.  This  is  a  fact.  And  I 


366  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

record  it  to  the  shame  of  our  young  men,  who  lack  the 
promptings  of  a  laudable  ambition  to  be  able  to  do  as 
much  as  their  fathers  could.  A  little  skill  and  ambi- 
tion of  a  boy  with  a  cradle  or  rake,  will  often*  surprise 
a  strong  man,  who  is  as  awkward  as  a  poorly  trained 
donkey. 

SHOCKING  OK  STOCKING  WHEAT. 

"  Now  sheaves  are  slanted  to  the  sun, 

Amid  the  golden  meadows, 
And  little  sun-tanned  gleaners  run 
To  cool  them  in  their  shadows." 

The  "  shocking  manner  "  in  which  a  large  proportion 
of  the  wheat  of  our  country  is  stocked — and  in  many 
instances  by  farmers  who  sustain  a  fair  reputation  for 
being  skilful  cultivators  of  the  soil — is  one  of  the  chief 
reasons  why  the  market  is  often  glutted  by  such  a  large 
quantity  of  poor  and  sprouted  wheat,  and  why  there  is 
such  a  serious  complaint  about  poor  bread.  It  is  quite 
as  annoying  and  shocking  to  a  skilful  farmer,  to  see  his 
grain  stocked  in  the  awkward  and  perfunctory  manner 
that  is  almost  universally  practised,  as  it  is  to  a  finely 
educated  ear,  to  listen  to  harsh  discords,  when  harmo- 
nious sounds  were  promised  and  expected.  Were  it  not 
for  the  purpose  of  turning  the  water  from  the  grain 
during  showers  of  rain,  the  manner  in  which  the 
sheaves  are  set  up  in  stocks  would  be  a  matter  of  small 
account.  But,  since  sheaves  may  be  stocked  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  turn  all  the  rain  of  a  moderate  shower,  it 
becomes  a  subject  of  first  importance  to  the  wheat- 
grower  to  know  how  tc  set  up  the  sheaves  right. 
There  is  a  right  way  and  a  wrong  way  to  shock  sheaves 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


.367 


of  grain ;  and  it  is  just  as  easy  to  adopt  the  right  way 
as  the  wrong,  when  a  laborer  knows  what  is  required. 
An  active  boy  can  be  taught,  in  a  short  time,  to  shock 
grain  so  well,  that  the  stooks  will  stand  erect  for  several 
weeks  without  leaning  or  tumbling  over,  thus  exposing 
the  grain  to  storms. 

When  I  was  accustomed  to  work  on  the  farm,  I 
shocked  every  sheaf  of  grain  with  my  own  hands,  un- 
less it  was  not  convenient  for  me  to  be  in  the  field ;  and 
the  result  was.  that  I  could  often  haul  my  grain  to  the 


FIG.  59.—  Setting  up  Sheaves. 


barn,  soon  after  a  shower,  while  the  sheaves  of  certain 
neighbors  would  be  wringing  wet  to  the  middle  ;  and 
many  of  them  would  have  to  be  unbound  and  spread 


368  ^  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

out  before  they  could  be  dried.  That  was  because  the 
sheaves  were  stocked  in  such  a  shocking  and  perfunc- 
tory manner.  Since  shocking  grain  in  a  proper  manner 
is  a  subject  of  such  eminent  importance,  I  deem  it 
proper  to  lay  down  the  details  in  the  manipulations  of 
putting  sheaves  in  stooks. 

How  TO  HANDLE  SHEAVES. 

When  a  laborer  is  carrying  sheaves  to  the  place  where 
a  stook  is  to  be  a  made,  he  should  either  take  hold  of 
the  band,  or  grasp  a  large  handful  of  the  straw  near  the 
band.  But  when  the  sheaves  are  to  be  set  up,  especially 
when  long  shocks  or  stooks  are  to  be  made,  each  hand 
should  grasp  a  sheaf  as  represented  by  the  preceding  illus- 
tration (Fig.  59).  Then  the  two  sheaves  should  be  set 
down  at  one  thrust,  with  the  tops  leaning  toward  each 
other  sufficiently  to  settle  toward  each  other.  If  one 
sheaf  stands  erect,  and  the  other  leans  against  it,  both 
will  soon  fall  to  the  ground. 

The  accompanying  representation  of  a  stook  of  wheat 
put  up  as  thousands  of  laborers  shock  grain,  shows  what 

a  complete  rain-catcher  such 
a  shock  of  grain  is.  Look 
at  it !  The  sprawling  tops 
will  not  turn  rain  any  bet- 
ter than  a  binder's  old  straw 
hat,  when  placed  bottom-side 
upward  in  a  hard  rain-storm. 
The  gavels  were  unskilfullv 

111.-,.  -, 

made  ;  the  binding  was  only 

FIG.  60.— Badly  Shocked.  J 

halt  done  ;  and  the  sheaves 
were  shocked  in  a  most  shocking  manner,  so  that  every 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST.  369 

drop  of  rain  that  falls  within  the  area  of  such  wide- 
spreading  sheaves,  will  be  conveyed  by  the  straws 
down  into  the  middle  of  the  bundles.  Look  at  the  cap- 
sheaf!  How  much  water  will  that  conduct  off  the 
sheaves  beneath  it  ?  Not  a  single  drop.  Water  always 
runs  down  hill.  The  manner  in  which  that  cap-sheaf 
is  put  on  the  stook,  will  be  the  means  of  collecting  most 
of  the  rain  that  falls  on  it,  and  conveying  it  toward  the 
band — down  hill — arid  thus  down  into  the  sheaves  be- 
neath it.  Those  sprawling  tops  of  sheaves  should  be 
gathered  into  a  smaller  compass,  and  placed  beneath  the 
straw  of  the  cap-sheaf,  which  should  be  spread  out  so  as 
to  carry  the  rain  beyond  the  sheaves. 

The  representation  of  a  shock  of  wheat  herewith 
given  (Fig.  61),  shows  as  nearly  as  is  practicable  how  to 
stook  wheat  neatly,  so  as  to 
turn  off  most  of  the  rain. 
There  are  two  cap-sheaves 
spread  out  on  the  tops  of 
the  bundles  which  are  set  on 
the  buts.  My  own  practice 
has  always  been  to  set  about 
ten  sheaves  together,  in  a 
round  and  snug  compass,  and 
crown  them  with  two  caps 

,      n  ,  FIG.  61.— Neatly  Shocked. 

instead  of  one,  as  shown  by 

the  illustration,  Fig.  61.  Yet  the  cap-sheaf  in  this  figure 
is  not  represented  with  the  tops  and  butts  spread  as 
much  as  they  ought  to  be.  It  is  extremely  difficult  to 
show  every  important  point  on  paper.  But  the  reader 
should  understand,  that  it  is  important  to  have  the  straw 
spread  all  over  the  top  of  the  standing  sheaves,  so  that 
they  will  conduct  the  rain  to  the  outside  of  the  stook. 

16* 


370  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


SINGLE-CAPPED  STOCKS. 

A  great  many  wheat-growers  set  their  sheaves  in 
round  stooks ;  and  cap  them  with  only  one  shea/,  as  rep- 
resented by  the  accompany- 
ing figure  62  of  a  shock  of 
wheat.  But  I  never  ap- 
proved of  this  mode  of 
stocking  sheaves  of  any 
kind ;  because  more  skill  is 
required  to  put  on  the  cap- 
sheaf,  than  is  necessary 
when  two  cap-sheaves  are 

no.  62.-Kound  shock  of  wheat,  employed,  as  shown  in  a 

preceding  figure.  In  this 

style  of  stocking  grain,  one  of  the  largest  sheaves  is 
selected  for  the  cap,  and  placed  with  the  butts  upward. 
During  a  heavy  shower  of  rain,  that  large  butt-end  of 
the  cap-sheaf  will  catch,  in  some  instances,  more  than 
a  gallon  of  water,  all  of  which  will  be  conducted  down 
•  into  the  sheaf,  and  much  of  it  will  pass  down  among 
the  grain  beneath  the  cap  ;  whereas,  the  rain  that  falls 
on  a  stook  having  two  cap-sheaves,  like  the  shock  on  a 
preceding  page,  will  nearly  all  be  conveyed  off  the  grain 
to  the  ground. 

Although  I  prefer  making  stooks  with  two  caps,  still 
I  will  pen  directions  to  enable  a  beginner  to  shock  his 
grain  neatly,  with  one  cap-sheaf. 

The  number  of  sheaves  in  a  stook,  will  depend  in  a 
great  degree,  on  the  size  of  the  bundles  and  the  length 
of  the  straw.  My  practice  always  was,  when  making 
stooks  without  assistance,  to  set  up  the  largest  sheaf  per- 
pendicularly for  the  middle  of  the  shock  ;  and  then,  set 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  371 

eight  more  sheaves  around  it,  being  careful  to  lean  them 
all  a  trifle  toward  the  middle  sheaf.     When  setting  up 
the  outside  sheaves,  one  hand  must  support  the  middle 
sheaf  from  being  thrust  from  its  perpendicular  position, 
until  sheaves  have  been  placed  on  the  opposite  side. 
After  the  circle  is  complete,  as  shown  by  the  accom- 
panying diagram  of  stars,  gather  in  all  the      ^    *    ^ 
spreading  straws  and  lopping  bunches  of  ^       ^       * 
grain,  and  form  a  snug  round  top.     Then,      #         ^ 
having  previously  chosen  the  sheaf  having 
the  longest  and  straightest  straw,  loosen  the  band,  hold 
the  ends  with  one  hand,  and  chuck  the  bundle  down  on 
the  ground,  butt-end  first,  and  bind  it  again  with  the 
band  about  eight  to  twelve  inches  from  the  butt-end  of 
the  sheaf.     Now  place  the  sheaf  again  on  the  butt-end, 
and  break  the  straw   down  horizontally   in    every  di- 
rection  from   the  centre   of  the   sheaf.      Then   place 
this  cap  on  the  stook  as  represented  by  the  illustra- 
tion on  page  376. 

For  the  purpose  of  corroborating  the  excellence  of  this 
mode  of  shocking  grain,  I  copy  the  notes  of  J.  J. 
Thomas,  of  the  "  Cultivator  and  Country  Gentleman," 
who  writes :  "  Two  years  since,  when  the  wheat  was 
almost  universally  injured  or  spoiled  by  rains  during 
harvest,  the  only  exception  which  we  met  with  was  a  field 
belonging  to  an  extensive  farmer,  the  wheat  of  which 
was  cut  early — a  wreek  before  the  common  time — and 
well  secured  in  shocks,  like  that  shown  in  the  preceding 
figure.  The  grain  thus  secured  remained  in  the  field 
uninjured  through  all  the  rains,  and  ripened  into  excel- 
lent bright,  plump  wheat ;  while  all  the  other  fields  of 
this  farmer,  and  all  the  wheat  of  his  neighbors,  were 
nearly  ruined.  We  will  describe  a  systematic  method 


372  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

which  we  have  practised  for  many  years,  and  know  that 
it  operates  well : 

"  1.  Grain  should  be  firmly  bound  in  smaller  sheaves 
than  it  is  almost  universally  bound.  Loosely  bound 
sheaves  cannot  be  well  shocked  ;  they  also  admit  more 
rain  than  tightly  bound  ones. 

"  2.  Two  men  can  shock  better  and  more  advantage- 
ously than  one. 

"  3.  Let  the  shocker  always  take  two  sheaves  at  a  time, 
holding  them  with  his  elbow  against  his  side,  bringing 
the  heads  together  with  hands  well  spread  upon  them. 
Lift  them  as  high  as  possible,  bringing  them  with  force, 
in  as  nearly  a  perpendicular  position  as  can  be,  to  the 
ground.  Never  make  the  second  thrust,  if  the  sheaves 
stand  erect,  for  every  one  after  the  first,  by  breaking 
the  butts,  makes  the  matter  worse. 

"4.  Let  two  persons  bring  down  two  sheaves  each  at 
the  same  time,  as  described  above,  being  extremely  care- 
ful to  keep  them  perpendicular.     The  form 
of  shock  at  this  period,  may  be  represented 
thus : 

•     "  5.  As  lastly  stated,  two  more  each,  thus  :         ^     ^ 
The  reader  will  perceive  we  now  have  ten     *  * 

sheaves,  forming  a  circle  as  nearly  as  can  be.     *  *    *  * 

"  6.  While  one  man  presses  the  head  of  the        *     * 
shock  firmly  together,  let  the  other  break,  not  bend,  the 
two  cap  sheaves,  and  place  them  on  well-spreading  heads 
and  butts. 

"  The  main  points  are,  to  have  grain  well  bound,  sheaves 
to  be  stood  in  an  erect  position,  and  then  put  cap-sheaves 
on  firmly,  and  every  gust  of  wind  will  not  demolish  your 
work."  Let  boys,  and  awkward  men  also,  observe  these 
directions,  till  they  can  shock  grain  neatly. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  373 


How  TO  MAKE  LONG  SHOCKS. 

When  sheaves  of  any  kind  are  set  up  in  long  shocks, 
the  stooks  should  stand  north  and  south,  rather  than  in 
any  other  direction,  so  that  the  sun  may  shine  on  one 
side  in  the  former  part  of  the  day,  and  on  the  opposite 
side  in  the  afternoon.  If  the  stooks  be  set  up  in  an 
east  and  west  direction,  the  north  side  of  the  sheaves 
get  the  benefit  of  very  little  sunshine,  while  the  south 
side  receives  more  than  an  equal  proportion. 

When  those  laborers  who  cannot  set  up  sheaves  satis- 
factorily, carry  the  bundles  together,  they  should  be 
taught  to  lay  the  sheaves  in  two  rows,  tops  toward  each 
other,  with  about  three  feet  space  between  the  heads. 
Then,  the  operator  takes  a  sheaf  in  each  hand,  and 
chucks  them  down  on  the  butts,  once  only,  on  the  ground, 
with  the  tops  leaning  inward  only  a  little.  The  sheaves 
should  not  lean  as  far  as  the  rafters  of  a  house.  After 
they  have  been  set  down,  press  the  tops  together.  Then 
set  up  two  more  sheaves,  close  to  the  first  pair ;  and  then 
two  more ;  and  so  on,  until  the  shock  is  finished.  If  a 
sheaf  is  chucked  down  more  than  once,  the  butts  will 
be  broken  and  bent  around  in  various  directions ;  and 
the  sheaves  will  not  maintain  their  erect  position  so 
well  as  they  will  when  jammed  down  only  once.  Long 
shocks  may  be  made  of  any  desired  length.  But  great 
care  should  be  exercised,  that  the  sheaves  do  not  lean 
lengthways  of  the  stook.  If  they  be  set  up  correctly, 
they  will  stand  erect  as  long  as  it  is  desirable  to  allow 
the  grain  to  remain  in  the  field.  Whether  the  sheaves 
be  set  up  in  long  shocks  or  in  round  shocks,  a  sheaf 
should  never  be  jammed  down  on  the  ground  more  than 
once,  if  we  would  have  it  stand  up  well. 


374  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


WOODEN  GKAIN  AND  HAY  CAPS. 

The  accompanying  illustration  represents  a  shock  of 
wheat  covered  with  wooden  caps,  which  may  be  made 
at  a  cheap  rate,  when  lumber  and  labor  are  *  cheap. 
They  may  be  made  in  the  following  manner :  Saw  out 
a  lot  of  sticks  of  hard  wood,  four  feet  long  and  one  and 
a  quarter  inches  square.  These  are  to  be  employed  as 
a  ridge  pole  to  a  barn  roof.  Select  wide  shingles,  sea- 
son them  thoroughly  in  the  sunshine,  until  the  wood 
will  not  shrink  any  more ;  then  joint  the  edges  and  nail 


FIG.  63.— Wooden  Grain  Caps. 

the  butts  to  the  miniature  ridge-pole.  Such  a  roof  will 
cover  a  cock  of  hay  of  large  size,  or  a  shock  of  wheat, 
keeping  it  dry  through  any  storm.  The  only  question 
is,  whether  they  will  not  be  too  costly,  and  inconvenient 
to  handle.  But  tapering  shingles  would  be  lighter  than 
shingles  of  uniform  thickness.  Thin  boards  of  bass- 
wood,  white  wood,  or  pine,  not  more  than  one-fourth  of 
an  inch  thick,  would  subserve  quite  as  good  purpose  as 
wide  shingles.  Such  caps  could  be  carried  to  and  from 
the  field  in  a  wagon ;  and  packed  in  a  small  compass 
in  a  "nest,"  like  wooden  bowls.  It  would  be  necessary 


THE    WHEAT   CULTTJRIST.  375 

to  make  the  tops  of  the  cocks  of  such  shape  that  the 
wooden  caps  would  fit  well,  and  not  be  blown  off,  even 
by  high  winds.  At  times,  where  there  is  but  little  to 
do,  such  caps  might  be  made  and  painted  with  coal  tar, 
to  prevent  the  shingles  shrinking  and  swelling  by  the 
action  of  showers  and  sunshine. 

If  four  feet  in  length  should  not  be  of  the  right  length, 
they  can  be  made  five  or  six  feet  long ;  and  several  caps 
can  be  put  on  a  long  shock. 

CLOTH  GRAIN  CAPS — How  TO  MAKE  THEM. 

As  there  is  so  much  uncertainty  about  having  fair 
weather  during  the  days  of  harvest,  grain  caps,  or  hay 
caps,  for  covering  shocks  of  grain  in  stormy  weather, 
seem  to  be  almost  an  indispensable  requisite  to  success- 
ful agriculture.  Indeed,  I  think  that  grain  caps  are  for 
more  important  than  a  mowing-machine,  or  a  reaper. 
If  I  could  have  but  one  of  the  two,  I  should  consider  it 
most  economical  to  purchase  a  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  hay  caps,  rather  than  a  mower  and  reaper.  The 
chief  reason  why  they  have  not  been  introduced  more 
generally  is,  the  expense  of  procuring  the  material  for 
making  them.  Besides  this,  few  farmers  really  under- 
stand and  appreciate  the  eminent  value  and  advantage 
of  such  appendages.  I  think,  that  if  a  farmer  who  has 
been  accustomed  to  secure  his  crops  without  grain  caps, 
will  employ  them  during  a  wet  season,  he  would  ever 
after  be  unwilling  to  dispense  with  their  use.  When  a 
farmer  has  a  crop  of  grain  ready  to  be  garnered,  and  the 
clouds  pour  down  torrents  of  rain,  so  that  every  sheaf 
would  be  wet  through  and  through,  and  many  of  them 
have  to  be  unbound  before  the  grain  could  be  dried,  I 


370  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

cannot  describe  the  feeling  of  transcendent  satisfaction 
which  that  farmer  experiences,  when  he  goes  to  his 
fields  after  a  heavy  rain  has  fallen,  and  finds  every 
sheaf  dry  enough  to  cart  to  the  barn  !  On  the  contrary, 
witness  the  woe-begone  countenance  of  him  Who  fore- 
sees the  hard  labor  of  drying  his  wet  sheaves  ;  and  who 
grieves  over  the  large  quantity  of  sprouted  grain,  per- 
haps wheat  for  his  family ! 

In  localities  where  long  and  heavy  storms  of  rain  are 
apt  to  prevail  during  the  haying  and  harvest  season, 
every  farmer  ought  to  prepare  a  good  supply  of  hay 
caps,  not  only  for  protecting  his  hay  while  it  is  in  cock, 
but  for  protecting  his  cereal  grain,  and  Indian  corn- 
stalks, when  they  are  in  the  shock.  Such  caps  will 
often  pay  for  themselves,  in  a  single  season,  in  protect- 
ing hay  only.  But,  after  the  hay  has  been  gathered, 
they  will  be  found  quite  as  serviceable  for  protecting 
barley,  wheat,  and  oats.  That  farmer  who  has  never 
used  them  has  110  correct  idea  of  the  great  advantage  of 
hay  caps,  both  in  making  hay  and  in  protecting  grain 
from  rain. 

•  If,  for  example,  one  has  a  lot  of  hay  that  is  ready  to 
go  into  the  mow  or  stack  when  a  heavy  rain  is  at  hand, 

he  can  put  on  his  caps  in  a 
short  time,  and  his  hay  or 
grain  will  receive  no  dam- 
age. Then,  as  soon  as  the 
storm  is  over  he  can  re- 
move his  caps,  and  go  to 
work  immediately  at  his 
grain  or  hay.  On  the  con- 
FIG.  64.— cioth  Grain-cap.  trary,  had  it  not  been  for 

the  protection  of  his  caps,  the  damage  done  to  his  hay 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  377 

or  grain  might  have  been  more  than  equal  to  the  value 
of  the  caps. 

I  have  examined  various  ways  of  making  hay-caps, 
and  among  them  all  I  can  recommend  the  following 
mode  of  making  them  as  the  most  convenient  to  han- 
dle :  Procure  common  sheeting,  or  bed-ticking,  or  any 
kind  of  cloth,  one  yard  or  two  yards  wide,  and  make 
the  caps  about  six  feet  square ;  let  the  rough  edges  be 
hemmed.  Now  turn  up  each  corner  about  three  inches, 
and  sew  them  down  tightly.  Work  a  small  eyelet-hole 
near  each  corner,  like  Fig.  64,  for  the  wooden  pins  to  go 
through  into  the  hay.  The  pins  may  be  made  of  anj 
hard,  straight-grained  wood,  about  sixteen 
inches  long.  These  pins  can  be  made  the  most 
expeditiously  by  sawing  off  a  log  of  green 
timber,  and  split  it  out,  as  one  would  rive 
out  staves.  Then  shave  them,  so  that  they 
will  be  about  half  an  inch  round  at  the  large 
end,  with  a  knob  on  one  end,  and  pointed  at 
the  other  end.  The  neatest  way  would  be, 
to  have  the  pins  turned,  like  the  illustra-  FIG.  66. 

Grain-Gap 

tion  here  given.  pin- 

PAINTING  GRAIN-CAPS. 

Some  people  paint  their  caps ;  but  this  renders  the 
cloth  rotten,  and  very  stiff.  But  unless  the  cloth  is 
very  good,  they  will  not  turn  the  rain  during  a  very 
heavy  shower,  if  the  cloth  is  not  painted.  Others  have 
saturated  the  caps  with  a  solution  of  alum,  and  some 
quicklime ;  but  I  cannot  recommend  this  preparation. 
Yet  the  following  preparation  I  can  endorse,  even  for 
rather  poor  cloth.  If  the  caps  are  made  of  heavy  bed- 


378  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

ticking  they  will  not  let  the  rain  through,  should  it  rain 
a  week  or  more,  even  if  they  have  not  been  smeared, 
with  any  preparation : 

Make  a  paint  of  three  parts  of  coal-tar  and  one  part 
of  benzole,  or  benzine,  or  spirits  of  turpentine,  and 
apply  it  to  the  cloth,  in  hot  weather,  and  you  will 
have  caps  that  will  last  as  long  as  one  man  will  need 
them. 

The  most  expeditious  way  to  put  the  caps  on  a  cock 
of  hay  or  stook  of  grain  is,  let  two  men  throw  a  cap 
over  the  top,  and  draw  it  down,  both  together,  and 
thrust  in  the  pins  into  the  eyelet-holes,  with  the  points 
a  little  upward.  Weights  in  each  corner  of  the  caps 
will  hold  them  well ;  but  they  are  said  to  be  very  heavy 
to  carry  around,  as  one  hundred  caps  must  necessarily 
weigh  some  six  or  eight  hundred  pounds.  The  editor 
of  the  "  Cultivator  and  Country  Gentleman "  says : 
"  We  experimented  this  season  on  this  modern  protect- 
or, and  the  result  is,  that  I  believe  the  small  caps  of 
three  feet  square  are  comparatively  useless — those  one 
and  a  half  yards  square  the  best  size.  Those  not  oiled 
did  not  keep  out  the  wet  effectually,  but  those  dipped  in 
boiled  oil  repelled  the  rain  of  nearly  a  week's  duration, 
so  as  to  require  but  an  hour's  airing  of  the  cocks  to  fit 
them  for  drawing.  The  stones  sewed  in  the  corners 
will,  I  think,  be  abandoned  on  trial,  as  they  make  them 
too  heavy  to  move  in  quantities  ;  besides  proving  inade- 
quate in  a  brisk  breeze  to  retain  them  in  their  place ; 
while  pegs  not  only  hold  them  on,  but  also  spike  the 
hay  from  caking  off  the  top,  as  it  sometimes  does,  cap, 
stones,  and  all.  When  weights  are  employed  at  the 
corners  of  caps,  one  pound,  at  least,  at  a  corner,  will  be 
as  light  as  the  weights  should  be  made." 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  379 


MORE  ABOUT  GRAIN  OR  HAY-CAPS. 

Hay-caps  are  sometimes  made  four  feet  square,  hav- 
ing a  wooden  pin  fastened  in  the  middle  of  each  cap, 
which  pin  is  thrust  into  the  top  of  each  cock.  Then, 
there  are  pins  fastened  to  small  cords  at  each  of  the  four 
corners.  But  the  centre  pin  is  of  little  use,  while  it  in- 
creases the  expense ;  and  four  feet  square  is  quite  too 
small,  to  protect  cocks  of  an  ordinary  size ;  or,  to  pro- 
tect shocks  of  grain. 

Experience  teaches,  that  caps  will  usually  be  more 
convenient,  when  they  are  made  with  eyelet-holes  at 
each  corner,  for  receiving  the  pins,  than  when  the  pins 
are  fastened  to  the  middle.  When  they  are  made  as 
recommended,  the  pins  can  be  carried  in  a  basket,  and 
the  caps  in  a  large  roll,  very  conveniently ;  and  if  the 
holes  be  made  at  the  corners,  the  caps  can  be  used  to 
cover  a  stack  with  ;  whereas,  they  could  not  be  so  em- 
ployed, when  the  pins  are  fastened  to  the  corners  with 
cords.  The  caps  should  all  be  made  of  a  uniform  size  ; 
and  the  holes  should  be  marked  out  by  a  pattern,  so  that 
the  caps  will  all  be  just  alike. 

Now,  to  protect,  or  shingle  a  long  stack  with  caps, 
begin  at  the  top,  and  lay  one  cap  on  one  side  of  the 
stack,  and  another  one  on  the  opposite  side  ;  and,  let  a  pin 
be  thrust  through  a  hole  in  the  corner  of  four  different 
caps  on  the  top  of  the  stack.  Then  put  another  course 
of  caps  below  the  first  course,  and  put  a  pin  at  the 
corners.  Round  stacks  cannot  be  covered  with  caps  in 
this  way.  But,  long  stacks,  and  stacks  that  are  only 
partly  finished,  which  need  to  be  protected  from  a 
shower  of  rain,  can  be  covered  with  caps  made  as  di- 
rected in  a  few  minutes,  so  as  to  turn  a  heavy  rain. 


380  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


SCOTT'S  PATENT  GRINDER. 

This  invention  consists  of  a  grindstone  turned  off  true 
on  the  side,  as  well  as  on  the  periphery,  and  supported  on 

a  frame,  as  repre- 
sented in  the  figure. 
The  grindstone 
is  adjustable  to  any 
required  angle,  and 
the  cutter  bar,  or 
knife,  is  securely 
held  in  the  swing- 
ing frame,  and 
placed  at  the  pro- 
per bevel.  The 
stone  slides  the 

Grinding  Machine  Knives.  whole  length  of  the 

frame,  and  grinds  each  section  to  its  proper  bevel  with 
great  accuracy  and  facility. 

Every  person  who  has  had  experience  in  grinding  the 
sections  of  mowing  machines,  will  appreciate  the  value 
of  such  a  device.  The  grinder  is  manufactured  by 
Richardson  &  Co.,  Auburn,  N.  Y. ;  and  has  met  with 
excellent  favor  wherever  it  has  been  introduced. 

How  TO  PITCH  SHEAVES. 

There  are  numerous  little  considerations  which  a 
pitcher  must  understand  perfectly  if  he  would  pitch 
sheaves  easily  and  expeditiously.  In  the  first  place,  he 
should  have  a  fork  and  tines  much  straighter  than  for 
pitching  hay  or  straw.  A  fork  with  crooked  tines,  and 
spread  wide  apart,  is  a  disagreeable  tool  to  pitch  with, 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTTJRIST.  381 

as  the  tines  stick  in  the  sheaf,  and  require  more  of  an 
effort  to  withdraw  them  than  if  they  were  straighter, 
or  not  so  much  curved. 

Another  thing  is,  always  thrust  the  fork  into  the 
sheaf  astride  of  the  band,  unless  the  band  be  loose,  and 
near  one  end  of  the  sheaf.  Beginners  should  be  in- 
structed how  to  take  up  a  sheaf  with  a  fork,  and  how  to 
give  it  a  skilful  turn  while  it  is  on  the  fork,  so  that  it 
will  land  in  the  most  desirable  position.  An  active 
boy  of  only  ordinary  strength,  if  he  have  skill  3  will 
pitch  sheaves  more  satisfactorily  than  a  strong,  but 
awkward  man. 

In  order  to  pitch  off  a  load  of  sheaves  easily,  the 
pitcher  should  take  them  up  in  the  reversed  order  in 
which  they  were  laid  down,  as  the  sides  frequently  over- 
lap each  other.  These  suggestions,  it  is  hoped,  will  be 
sufficient  to  enable  beginners  to  aim  to  perform  the  task 
of  pitching  with  a  good  degree  of  skill. 

How  TO  LOAD  SHEAVES  OF  WHEAT. 

When  building  a  load  of  sheaves  on  a  wagon  or  cart, 
there  are  several  points  to  be  kept  in  mind  by  the  load- 
er; among  which  are — carrying  up  the  sides  uniformly, 
so  that  the  load  will  ride  safely  to  the  barn  or  stack,  and 
placing  the  sheaves  in  such  a  manner  that  the  load  may 
be  pitched  off  with  facility,  carrying  all  the  loose  grain 
with  the  sheaves.  Loading  sheaves,  so  as  to  save  even 
only  a  quart  or  more  of  the  best  of  wheat  at  every  load, 
is  an  item  of  importance,  when  the  grain  is  worth  three 
dollars  or  more  per  bushel.  The  first  sheaves,  when 
making  a  load,  should  not  be  thrown  hap-hazard  into 
the  rigging,  unless  the  bottom  and  sides  are  grain-tight. 


382  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

But  let  the  loader  take  each  sheaf  as  it  is  pitched  and 
place  a  course  of  sheaves  across  one  end  of  the  rigging. 
Then  lay  the  tops  of  another  course  of  sheaves  on  the 
ears  of  the  preceding  bundles.  If  the  sheaves  J)e  placed 
in  this  manner  they  -will  catch  all  the  loose  grain  that 
may  be  shelled  out  of  the  other  sheaves.  One  or  two 
courses  more  will  be  sufficient  to  fill  the  rigging.  This 
rigging,  or  box,  or  "  shelving,"  on  which  the  sheaves  are 
carted  or  hauled,  should  not  be  filled  flush  with  the  out- 
side before  the  first  course  of  sheaves  is  laid  in  the 
desired  place.  If  the  middle  be  filled  even  with  the 
outside  shelving,  the  sheaves  will  be  apt  to  slide  off  the 
sides  before  they  can  be  secured  by  a  middle  course. 
After  the  middle  is  filled,  lay  a  large  sheaf  on  each  cor- 
ner first.  The  object  of  placing  a  large  sheaf  on  the 
corner  is  to  keep  the  corners  a  trifle  the  highest.  If  the 
corners  be  carried  up  true  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
putting  a  load  on  square. 

A  mason,  when  building  a  brick  house,  always  car- 
ries up  his  corners  first,  as  the  corners  are  a  sure  guide. 
•A  loader  must  do  the  same  thing.  Let  the  but  ends  of 
the  sheaves  be  laid  beyond  the  shelving,  nearly  to  the 
bands  which  encircle  them.  Place  the  sheaves  as  close- 
ly together  as  they  can  be  conveniently  pressed.  If  the 
ground  be  rough,  so  that  the  sheaves  are  liable  to  be 
jostled  out  of  place,  lay  the  binding  course  of  sheaves 
in  the  middle.  When  loading  the  binding  or  middle 
course  of  sheaves,  place  the  tops  of  every  alternate  sheaf 
in  the  opposite  direction.  Select  the  smallest  sheaves 
for  the  middle,  so  as  to  keep  the  outside  of  the  load 
a  trifle  the  highest.  When  the  middle  appears  too  full, 
let  two  courses  of  sheaves  be  laid  around  the  outside, 
and  only  one  course  in  the  jniddle,  as  fast  as  the  outside 


THE   WHEAT   CTJLTTJRIST.  383 

courses  are  laid.  It  is  always  better  to  lay  the  middle 
course  of  sheaves  across  the  load,  instead  of  lengthwise, 
because,  when  laid  crosswise,  they  keep  the  outside 
courses  from  working  outward.  If  a  load  be  made  un- 
usually wide,  and  the  middle  sheaves  be  placed  length- 
wise of  the  wagon,  upon  passing  over  a  rough  or  uneven 
way,  the  sheaves  will  slip  and  slide  about,  and  half  of 
them  will  fall  to  the  ground,  when  not  a  sheaf  would 
have  moved  out  of  its  place,  had  the  middle  course  been 
laid  crosswise. 

When  the  sheaves  are  short,  the  butts  must  not  be 
laid  so  far  beyond  the  shelving  as  when  they  are  long. 
The  load  should  be  so  wide  that  the  binding  course  of 
sheaves  will  extend  almost  to  the  bands  of  the  sheaves 
of  the  outside  courses.  In  order  to  load  sheaves  well, 
the  loader  should  move  on  his  hands  and  knees,  and 
place  the  sheaves  as  close  together  as  practicable. 

Another  very  important  consideration  is,  to  have 
every  sheaf  pitched  clear  from  the  butts  of  the  last 
course  of  sheaves,  and  placed  on  the  top  of  the  load,  as 
no  man  can  make  a  load  with  true  sides,  when  the  per- 
son who  pitches  thrusts  his  fork  against  the  last  course, 
so  as  to  'displace  the  sheaves. 

When  a  mason's  hod-carrier,  through  lack  of  skill,  or 
from  heedlessness,  knocks  the  bricks  or  stones  out  of 
place,  after  they  have  been  laid  in  the  wall,  he  hears 
from  the  "  boss  "  in  emphatic  language ;  and  he  seldom 
repeats  the  careless  offence.  A  man  or  boy  who  is  load- 
ing sheaves  on  a  wagon  should  watch  his  work  as  close- 
ly as  a  mason  observes  the  courses  of  the  wall  which  he 
may  be  building.  If  the  foregoing  directions  are  ob- 
served, a  loader  will  find  no  difficulty  in  building  a  load 
that  will  not  tumble  off  the  wagon. 


384  THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

How  TO  Mow  SHEAVES  OF  WHEAT. 

There  are  two  modes  in  vogue  of  mowing  away 
sheaves  of  wheat,  colloquially  called  the  "  Yankee  mode  " 
and  the  "Dutch  fashion."  When  sheaves  are  mowed 
according  to  the  Yankee  mode,  a  course  of  bundles  is 
laid  around  the  outside  of  the  mow,  with  the  butts  out- 
ward. Then  another  course  of  sheaves  is  laid  inside 
of  this  first  course,  with  about  half  the  length  of  the 
sheaves  lapping  on  the  course  beneath.  The  old  way 
is  to  lap  the  ~butts  of  the  second  course  on  the  first  course 
of  sheaves,  and  thus  continue  to  work  round  and  round 
until  one  course  laid  in  the  middle  covers  the  surface 
of  the  mow.  In  some  instances  the  tops  of  the  sheaves 
are  lapped  on  the  first  course,  instead  of  the  butts. 

Those  who  practise  this  manner  of  mowing  their  grain 
aver  that  when  the  butts  are  placed  outward,  rats  and 
red  squirrels  find  it  more  difficult  to  work  into  the  mid- 
dle of  the  mow  than  when  the  sheaves  are  not  mowed 
in  the  foregoing  manner.  But  experience  proves  that 
if  such  animals  have  access  to  a  mow  of  grain,  they  will 
destroy  as  much  grain  when  one  style  of  mowing  is  prac- 
tised as  another.  When  a  barn  is  not  entirely  rat-proof, 
or  when  a  stack  is  not  placed  on  a  platform  beyond  the 
reach  of  rats,  it  is  folly  to  think  of  mowing  such  ma- 
rauders out  of  the  middle  of  a  stack  or  mow. 

The  Dutch  manner  of  mowing  is  to  lay  courses  of 
sheaves  back  and  forth  entirely  across  the  mow,  letting 
the  tops  of  each  course  overlap  about  half  of  the  sheaves 
of  the  preceding  course.  This  manner  of  mowing  sheaves 
is  decidedly  preferable  to  the  practice  of  laying  the 
courses  round  and  round,  until  one  sheaf  will  finish  in 
the  middle  of  the  mow.  This  Dutch  system  has  every- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST.  385 

thing  to  recommend  its  adoption  over  the  Yankee  mode, 
as  a  much  larger  number  of  sheaves  can  be  mowed  in  a 
given  space,  and  they  can  also  be  mowed  more  conve- 
niently ;  and  when  the  sheaves  are  removed  from  the 
mow  they  can  be  taken  up  more  readily  than  when  they 
are  mowed  in  the  style  just  alluded  to. 

Another  consideration  of  no  little  importance  is  to 
work  always,  except  the  bottom  course,  from  the  back 
side  of  the  mow  to  the  front.  In  practice  this  will  be 
seen  to  be  more  convenient  than  to  work  from  the  front 
to  the  back  side  of  the  mow. 

It  may  seem  trivial  to  expatiate  on  such  minor  topics. 
But  laborers  who  are  always  seeking  the  easiest  and 
most  expeditious  way  to  perform  every  laborious  opera- 
tion, appreciate  such  little  details  in  giving  directions 
for  saving  labor.  When  a  mow  is  first  commenced, 
however,  the  first  course  should  be  laid  on  the  front  side 
of  the  mow,  instead  of  the  back  side.  The  object  is  to 
save  all  the  loose  grain.  If  the  mower  begins  his  work 
on  th'e  further  side  of  the  barn,  or  bay,  all  the  loose  grain 
that  falls  from  the  sheaves,  both  when  mowing  the  bun- 
dles and  when  pitching  them  off  the  mow,  will  fall  to 
the  floor.  But  if  sheaves  be  mowed  as  directed,  and  be 
taken  up,  when  they  are  pitched  off,  without  turning 
them  over,  the  loose  grain  will  all  be  carried  along  with 
the  sheaves,  instead  of  being  left,  perhaps,  where  it  can- 
not easily  be  collected.  Every  observing  farmer  will 
perceive  all  the  advantages  which  have  been  stated,  and 
some  others  also,  by  working  from  the  back  side  of  the 
mow  to  the  front  side,  after  the  bottom  has  been  cov- 
ered with  one  course  of  sheaves. 

One  suggestion  further,  which  few  persons  ever  think 
of,  is  this :  The  mow,  for  example,  is  forty  feet  long. 

17 


386  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

The  sheaves  are  pitched  on  one  side,  near  the  middle. 
It  will  be  easier  for  both  the  mower  and  the  man  who 
pitches  the  sheaves  to  the  mower,  if  he  will  work  from 
each  end  toward  the  middle  of  the  mow,  instead  £>f  mow- 
ing from  the  middle  to  the  end  of  the  course  of  sheaves. 
The  advantages  will  be  perceived  as  soon  as  these  direc- 
tions are  observed.  The  mower  should  always  work 
toward  the  pitcher.  The  man  who  pitches  can  make 
very  hard  work  for  a  mower  by  throwing  the  sheaves 
wrong  end  first ;  or  he  can  facilitate  the  labor  of  mow- 
.  ing,  simply  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  skill  in  turning  the 
bundles  as  he  pitches  them,  so  that  every  one  will  fall 
directly  before  the  mower,  with  the  heads  where  they 
should  be. 

In  order  to  mow  sheaves  neatly,  and  thus  be  able  to 
get  as  much  grain  as  possible  into  a  given  space,  the 
mower  should  move  on  his  hands  and  knees,  placing  the 
sheaves  as  closely  together  as  they  can  be  crowded. 
Sometimes  sheaves  can  be  kept  closer  to  each  other  bv 
placing  a  sheaf  say  ten  inches  distant  from  the  one  be- 
neath the  knees  of  the  mower,  and  then  by  crowding 
another  bundle  between  two  sheaves  and  placing  the 
knees  on  it.  By  adopting  this  method  a  much  larger 
amount  of  grain  can  be  mowed  in  a  given  space  than 
if  the  sheaves  be  put  in  the  mow  in  a  perfunctory  man- 
ner. When  barn  room  is  scarce,  it  is  important  to  know 
how  to  make  a  limited  amount  of  space  subserve  a  given 
purpose. 

THE  CAYUGA-CHIEF  REAPER. 

The  Cayuga-Chief  represented  by  the  cut  is  a  com- 
bined two-wheeled  machine.  It  can  be  changed  in  a 
few  moments  from  a  mower  to  a  reaper.  The  cutter- 


388  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

bar  can  be  set  to  cut  any  desired  height.  The  platform 
and  cutters  can  be  adjusted  to  any  angle  desired,  for 
the  more  perfect  cutting  arid  easy  delivery  of  lodged  as 
well  as  standing  grain. 

The  raker's  seat  is  comfortably  and  conveniently  lo- 
cated, and  can  be  adjusted  so  as  to  enable  the  operator 
to  sit  in  any  position  he  may  desire.  Many  farmers, 
when  using  this  machine,  drive  the  team  and  handle  the 
rake  at  the  same  time. 

The  grain  is  delivered  at  the  side  of  the  swath,  giving 
abundant  room  for  the  team  and  machine  between  the 
gavels  and  the  standing  grain. 

The  reel  is  overhung  and  driven  so  as  to  operate 
properly  at  all  times.  As  a  harvester,  the  drive-wheels 
have  a  bearing  surface  of  sixteen  inches ;  and  the  weight 
is  so  distributed  that  the  machine  will  operate  success- 
fully on  very  soft  ground.  When  mowing  or  reaping, 
this  machine  turns  as  easily  as  a  cart,  cutting  square 
corners  without  any  backing  of  the  team,  being  sup- 
ported on  its  own  wheels,  and  balanced  independently 
of  the  tongue.  The  raker's  seat  and  platform  preserve 
their  proper  relations  to  each  other,  and  the  injurious 
and  annoying  vibrations  experienced  in  machines 
balanced  by  the  tongue  are  prevented. 

The  best  evidence  of  the  success  and  popularity  of 
this  machine  is  found  in  the  fact  that  upwards  of  twenty 
thousand  are  now  in  use  throughout  the  United  States. 

The  Cayuga  Chief  Manufacturing  Company  at  Au- 
burn, New  York,  manufacture  two  sizes  of  this  machine 
as  combined  hand  and  self  rake  reapers  and  mowers, 
and  a  smaller  size. 

Mr.  C.  Wheeler,  Jr.,  the  president  of  the  company, 
a  practical  farmer  and  mechanic,  is  the  inventor  of  the 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  389 

machine ;  and  he  makes  it  his  sole  business  to  study  and 
experiment  for  the  "Chief,"  and  keep  it  fully  up  in  all 
respects  with  the  improvements  of  the  times.  I  am 
assured  by  this  company,"that  they  are  taking  especial 
pains  in  the  selection  of  material  for  their  machines,  so 
that  farmers  have  the  assurance  that  the  Cayuga  Chief 
machines  will  be  unsurpassed  for  strength  of  material, 
workmanship,  perfection  of  fmish,  and  durability. 
They  say,  that  they  intend  that  the  "Cayuga  Chief" 
shall,  hereafter,  excel  all  others  in  mechanism  and 
excellent  material,  as  it  has  heretofore  done  in  its 
combinations  of  valuable  principles.  I  can  say  from 
personal  knowledge  of  the  Cayuga  Chief  for  several 
years,  that  I  can  confidently  recommend  it  to  farmers 
who  desire  a  good  mower  and  reaper.  Mr.  Wheeler 
has  expended  a  fortune  in  bringing  the  "  Chief "  to  its 
present  state  of  perfection  ;  and  the  brain-labor  expend- 
ed, from  first  to  last,  in  originating,  improving,  and 
perfecting  the  various  parts,  is  truly  wonderful  to  con- 
template. 

STACKING  SHEAVES  OF  WHEAT. 

It  requires  the  combined  knowledge  of  an  intelligent 
practical  farmer,  a  natural  philosopher,  and  the  con- 
structive skill  of  an  architect  to  build  a  good  stack. 
The  chief  object  to  be  kept  in  view  is,  to  place  the 
sheaves  so  that  the  straws  will  conduct  the  water  off  the 
stack.  Let  me  illustrate  the  idea  more  plainly :  Let  a 
shed  be  covered  with  rails,  or  poles,  laid  horizontally,  as 
a  roof;  and,  when  it  rains,  all  the  water  will  pass  down 
between  them ;  but  elevate  one  end  of  the  same  poles 
to  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  and  they  will  convey 
nearly  all  the  rain  that  falls  on  them,  to  the  lower  end. 


390  THE   WHEAT   CULTTJKIST. 

Straws  of  wheat  represent  poles.  When  the  sheaves  lie 
horizontally,  the  rain  will  pass  readily  down  between 
the  straws.  But  elevate  one  end  of  the  sheaf  to  the 
above-mentioned  angle,  and  the  straws  on  the  upper 
side  will  carry  off  nearly  all  the  water.  Yery  little  of  it 
will  find  its  way  into  the  sheaf.  Water  always  flows 
down  hill. 

THE  FOUNDATION  OF  STACKS. 

The  first  thing  in  building  a  stack  is,  a  suitable  foun- 
dation to  keep  the  dampness  from  injuring  the  grain. 
When  rails  or  poles  can  be  obtained  conveniently,  they 
will  subserve  an  excellent  purpose.  A  good  foundation 
may  be  readily  made  of  plank,  by  placing  four  planks 
on  their  edges,  with  other  planks  or  boards  resting  on 
these  for  the  stack.  A  stack  should  always  be  so  high 
from  the  ground  that  dogs  and  cats  can  go  under  them. 
This  will  give  a  circulation  of  air  under  the  stack,  and 
the  cats  a  chance  to  keep  it  free  from  mice,  rats,  gophers, 
etc.  At  any  rate  there  must  be  a  foundation  of  wood 
sufficient  to  keep  the  grain  from  acquiring  moisture  from 
the  earth.  This  done,  it  is  always  a  good  practice  to 
make  a  round  stack  about  a  pole  set  firmly  in  the  ground. 
This  will  keep  it  erect  when  it  is  settling.  When  mak- 
ing a  round  stack,  wrhere  there  is  no  pole  in  the  middle, 
it  will  always  be  found  advantageous  to  stick  a  fork  at 
the  middle,  keeping  it  there  as  the  stack  is  carried  up. 
Then  a  stacker  can  always  judge  whether  he  is  carrying 
up  the  sides  true. 

How  TO  PLACE  THE  SHEAVES. 

In  building  a  stack  of  any  kind,  there  are  two  points 
of  great  importance  to  be  observed.  The  first  is  tc 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  391 

carry  up  a  stack  true ;  and  the  next  is  to  place  the  sheaves 
or  material  in  the  best  position  to  carry  off  the  rain. 
Always  begin  in  the  middle  to  lay  the  first  course  of 
sheaves.  Set  a  centre  pole  firmly  in  the  ground,  and 
brace  it  securely  on  four  sides.  The  braces  will  not 
interfere  with  the  stacking.  Now  set  up  shea\es  around 
the  centre  pole,  letting  them  all  lean  toward  the  cen- 
tre. Place  a  pole  against  the  centre  pole,  and  carry 
the  other  end  entirely  around  the  outside  of  the  stack- 
bottom,  in  order  to  have  the  last  course  of  sheaves  on 
every  side  of  the  pole  at  a  uniform  distance  from  the 
centre  pole. 

When  the  bottom  course  of  sheaves  is  laid,  lay  an- 
other course  on  the  outer  side  ;  and  if  the  circumference 
seems  too  low,  lay  two  courses  of  sheaves,  one  above 
the  other,  and  tread  them  down  firmly.  Now  lay 
another  course  on  the  inside  of  the  first  one,  letting  the 
butts  lap  on  the  tops  of  the  outside  course,  almost  to 
the  bands.  The  butts  should  never  extend  beyond  the 
bands.  Keep  the  stack  nearly  level,  until  it  is  carried 
up  to  the  top  of  the  bilge.  The  middle  should  be  kept 
full,  and  a  few  inches  higher  than  the  outside  ;  and  the 
sheaves  should  be  well  trod  down.  If  the  middle 
be  kept  much  higher  than  the  outside,  before  the  stack 
is  built  as  high  as  the  bilge,  the  outside  course  of 
sheaves  will  continue  to  work  outward,  and  the  stack 
will  spread  faster  than  it  is  desired  to  have  it.  The 
^outside  course  of  sheaves  should  be  placed  as  close 
together  as  they  can  be,  to  prevent  large  holes  in  the 
outside,  where  rain  will  find  its  way  into  the  sheaves  be- 
neath. To  prevent  the  sheaves  slipping  outward,  ele- 
vate the  top  end  of  every  bundle  when  placing  it,  as 
the  stacker  is  represented  as  doing,  in  the  figure  ;  and 


392 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


thrust  the  butts  on  the  underside  into  the  course  below 
it.  When  they  are  simply  laid  down  without  this  secu- 
rity, the  courses  are  very  liable  to  slide  off.  This  is  one 


FIG.  67.— Stacking  Wheat. 

of  the  manipulations  in  stacking  that  but  comparatively 
few  understand.  I  have  seen  half  a  wagon-load  of 
sheaves  slide  at  once  from  the  side  of  a  stack  built  by  a 
man  who  was  ignorant  of  this  part  of  stacking.  As  the 
straw  of  barley  and  cornstalks  is  very  slippery,  it  is 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURI8T.  393 

difficult  to  keep  the  courses  from  sliding,  unless  the 
butts  of  every  sheaf  are  secured  in  this  way. 

To  PREVENT  A  STACK  FROM  LEANING. 

A  common  and  effectual  way  is  to  build  a  stack 
around  a  tree.  Then  it  must  settle  evenly ;  and  main- 
•tain  an  erect  position.  Another  way  worthy  of  adop- 
tion is,  to  set  a  stiff  pole  in  the  ground ;  and  brace  it 
firmly,  on  four  sides,  as  previously  alluded  to.  This  will 
be  as  effectual  as  a  tree.  If  the  pole  be  set  two  feet  in 
the  ground,  and  the  soil  be  well  rammed  around  it ;  and 
braces  four  feet  long  be  nailed  to  the  pole  at  the  upper 
ends ;  and  if  the  lower  ends  be  secured  at  the  surface  of 
the  ground  by  a  flat  stake,  a  hurricane  would  not  dis- 
turb a  stack.  When  a  long  stack  is  made,  two  or  three 
such  poles  should  be  set  up.  It  requires  but  a  little  re- 
sistance to  keep  a  stack  erect.  But,  after  a  stack  has 
settled  over,  it  is  no  easy  job  to  put  it  back  to  an  erect 
position. 

Bracing  stacks,  after  they  begin  to  lean,  is  often  re- 
sorted to,  by  thrusting  rails,  or  poles,  against  one  side. 
This  practice,  however,  is  not  to  be  commended,  as  poles 
thrust  beneath  the  bilge  of  a  stack,  will  often  turn  up 
the  courses  of  the  sheaves,  so  that  the  straws  will  slant 
toward  the  middle  of  the  stack,  in  which  position  they 
will  convey  the  rain  inward,  instead  of  conducting  it 
off  the  stack. 

Another  mode  of  maintaining  the  erect  position  of  a 
stack  is,  to  brace  one  side,  with  a  plank  and  pole,  or  with 
two  planks,  as  represented  by  the  braces  shown  in  Fig.  68. 

The  upright  plank  should  stand  in  a  perpendicular 
position,  so  that  the  side  of  the  stack  may  settle  down 

17* 


394:  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

without  leaning  from  its  erect  position.  The  brace  should 
be  secured  in  its  place  by  nailing  a  cleat  above  the  upper 
end  across  the  upright  plank,  as  represented  by  the  illus- 
tration, Fig.  68 ;  and  by  driving  a  broad  stakp  at  the 
lower  end  of  the  brace.  If  one  such  brace  be  not  suffi- 
cient, a  half  dozen  may  be  placed  on  one  side  of  a  stack. 
Then,  after  the  stack  is  done  settling,  the  braces  may  be 
removed.  But  if  the  ends  of  braces  be  thrust  against  a 
stack,  they  cannot  be  taken  away  at  pleasure. 

Furthermore,  when  tall  stacks  are  in  danger  of  being 
blown  over  by  a  high  wind,  this  manner  of  bracing  them 
will  be  found  more  convenient  and  efficient  than  any 
other  mode. 


WHAT  CAUSES  A  STACK  TO  LEAN. 

When  a  wheat-stack  has  been  built  as  true  as  the  form 
of  an  egg,  it  will  sometimes  settle  sideways  so  far  as  to 
fall  over  unless  braces  are  applied  in  time.  This  fact  is 
a  mystery  to  most  persons ;  and  they  often  ejaculate, 
inquiringly,  "  What  does  'make  it  lean  f  " 

The  prime  cause  must  always  be  attributed  to  im- 
perfect workmanship  when  building  a  stack.  I  will 
mention  certain  things  that  cause  a  stack  to  lean.  When 
all  the  grain  is  pitched  on  the  stack  at  one  side,  the 
heft  of  the  sheaves  and  the  tread  of  the  man  who 
pitches  them  to  the  stacker,  keeps  that  side  pressed 
down  more  compactly  than  the  stack  is  on  the  opposite 
side.  Of  course  the  side  that  is  trod  down  the  most  will 
settle  least.  The  settling  of  the  opposite  side,  more 
than  the  side  on  which  the  pitcher  stood,  causes  the 
stack  to  lean. 

Another  cause  of  leaning  is,  the  sheaves  are  laid  out 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  395 

farther  on  one  side  than  they  are  on  the  opposite  side. 
There  being  nothing  to  support  the  overhanging  bilge, 
that  side  of  the  stack  settles  much  more  than  the 
other.  The  consequence  is,  that  the  courses  of  sheaves 
on  one  side  of  the  stack  will  be  turned  up,  at  the  butts, 
to  such  an  angle,  that  the  rain  will  be  conducted  to- 
ward the  middle  of  the  stack  instead  of  running  off  the 
outside.  It  is  eminently  important,  that  the  straws  on 
the  outside  courses  of  the  stack,  should  always  be  so 
inclined  downward,  that  they  will  conduct  the  rain  out- 
ward, from  straw  to  straw,  until  the  water  will  all  now 
off  the  bilge  of  the  stack. 

How  TO  TOP  OFF  A  STACK. 

If  the  stack  is  being  built  of  sheaves,  the  middle  must 
be  kept  so  full  that  there  will  be  a  good  inclination  of 
the  straw  in  the  butts  of  the  bundles.  This  is  always 
a  much  better  guide  than  to  attempt  to  keep  the  mid- 
dle of  the  stack  at  a  certain  height  above  the  outside. 
The  stacker  should  move  on  his  knees,  as  already  stated 
on  a  previous  page ;  and,  in  order  to  keep  the  sheaves 
close  together  as  they  can  be  conveniently,  he  should 
lay  each  sheaf  partly  on  the  side  of  the  one  last  laid  ; 
and  as  it  is  pressed  down  with  the  knees,  hold  it  from 
slipping  with  both  hands.  By  this  means  a  much  larger 
number  of  bundles  may  be  secured  in  a  smaller  compass 
than  otherwise.  If  the  straws  only  have  a  suitable  in- 
clination to  carry  the  water  outward,  instead  of  toward 
the  middle  of  the  stack,  rain  will  injure  but  a  small 
portion  of  either  straw  or  grain.  If  one  side  of  a  stack 
should  be  lower  than  the  other,  it  may  usually  be  car- 
ried up  even,  by  using  the  large  sheaves  for  the  lower, 


396  THE    WHEAT    CULTUEIST. 

and  the  smaller  ones  for  the  higher  side.  This  ojiesided- 
ness  should  be  guarded  against  before  the  stack  has 
become  onesided.  The  straightest  and  handsomest  bun- 
dles should  be  placed  in  the  outside  course,  t  for  the 
purpose  of  keeping  the  stack  of  the  correct  shape,  as 
well  as  carrying  off  the  rain  better,  than  tangled  bun- 
dles, which  should  form  the  inside  courses,  whenever 
there  is  any  difference  in  the  sheaves.  If  it  is  necessary 
to  have  a  man  or  boy  stand  on  the  stack  to  pitch  the 


FIG.  68.— A  Stack  Braced,  to  Prevent  Leaning. 

sheaves  to  the  stacker,  he  should  always  remain  as  near 
the  middle  as  practicable,  and  not  travel  about  so  as 
to  displace  the  sheaves,  after  the  stacker  has  left  them. 
Keep  the  middle  full,  the  form  circular,  and  draw  the 
courses  in  gradually.  When  the  stack  is  not  built 
around  a  pole,  sharpen  a  small  rail  or  scantling,  and  set 
it  erect  at  the  centre,  by  thrusting  it  in,  two  or  three 
feet,  so  that  it  will  stand  while  the  top  is  built  around 
it.  As  the  area  of  the  top  of  the  stack  diminishes,  con- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  397 

tinue  to  place  the  sheaves  more  erect,  until  the  straws 
the  last  course  incline  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five 
degrees.  Bind  the  tops  of  these  securely  to  the  pole. 
Then  make  a  large  bundle  of  long  rye  straw,  wet  it 
thoroughly,  so  that  it  will  keep  in  place  better ;  and  hav- 
ing bound  it  with  one  band,  at  about  one-third  the  dis- 
tance from  the  top  to  the  butts,  slip  it  down  over  the  top 
of  the  stake,  and  bind  the  top  with  several  bands,  as 
represented  in  the  illustration.  Spread  out  the  butts 
evenly,  and  rake  them  down  straight.  A  stack  made 
according  to  the  foregoing  directions  will  turn  heavy 
showers  almost  as  well  as  a  shingle  roof,  and  the  water 
will  all  fall  clear  of  the  bottom  of  the  stack 


FURTHER  SUGGESTIONS  ABOUT  STACKING. 

A  writer  in  the  "  Wisconsin  Farmer "  recorded  the 
following  suggestions  about  building  stacks : 

"  In  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States  very  little  grain, 
or  even  hay,  is  stacked  out.  In  those  regions,  it  is  re- 
garded as  shiftless  for  a  farmer  not  to  have  barn-room 
enough  to  cover  all  his  crops.  The  sentiment  probably 
grew,  in  part,  out  of  the  old  method  of  thrashing  all 
the  grain  out  by  the  flail,  which  required  a  barn-floor 
and  high  guards  on  either  side,  to  keep  the  grain  from 
flying  over  and  wasting ;  and  partly  from  the  small  cost 
•of  barns  in  early  times. 

u  But  most  of  our  farmers  are  from  the  East,  and 
never  learned  to  build  a  stack,  to  do  which,  or  to  make 
an  axe  helve,  requires  either  a  man  of  genius,  or  a  good 
deal  of  training.  But  the  less  a  man  knows  about  either, 
the  more  apt  he  is  to  think  he  can  do  it  first  rate ;  and 
the  consequence  is,  that  large  quantities  of  grain  are 


398  THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 

spoiled  every  year  by  bad  stacking,  especially  of  wheat. 
A  farmer  should  never  attempt  to  stack  his  own  grain 
unless  he  is  sure  he  knows  how ;.  and  he  can  never  be 
sure  of  that  until  he  has  a  vivid -recollection  of  the  time 
when  he  did  not  know  how.  In  Great  Britain  it  has 
long  been  the  custom  to  secure  grain  in  stacks ;  and  they 
have  brought  the  art  to  a  great  deal  of  perfection  ;  and 
every  farmer  who  has  not  learned  the  art  himself,  should 
secure  the  services  of  some  English,  Welsh,  or  Scotch 
farmer  to  do  that  job  for  him  until  he  has  thoroughly 
acquired  the  art  himself. 

u  A  man  may  understand  something  about  the  theory 
of  stacking  without  being  an  adept  in  the  business. 
Building  a  stack  correctly  can  only  be  acquired  by  prac- 
tice under  the  eye  of  a  competent  instructor.  But  the 
theory  is  useful,  if  for  nothing  but  to  enable  the  farmer 
to  know  when  he  has  found  a  competent  practical  man. 
This  theory,  as  we  have  seen  it  practised  by  English- 
men, is  substantially  as  follows :  " 

.   TOPPING  OUT  A  STACK. 

"When  laying  sheaves  above  the  bilge  of  a  stack, the 
same  writer  says,  commence  in  the  centre  by  setting 
up  sheaves  as  for  a  round  shock,  adding  course  upon 
course,  setting  the  butts  of  each  succeeding  course  a 
little  more  out,  so  as  to  have  the  outside  course  at 
about  the  angle  of  a  quarter-pitch  roof,  being  care- 
ful to  force  the  butts  down  on  the  next  course  so  they 
will  not  slip  and  flatten  down  as  weight  is  added.  Let 
this  last  or  outside  course,  in  working  from  the  centre, 
serve  as  the  first  course  in  the  layer  which  you 
make  back  to  the  centre,  laying  the  butts  of  the  next 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST.  399 

course  about  even  with  the  bands  of  the  course  un- 
der it,  and  thrusting  the  butts  of  each  bundle,  as  you 
lay  it.  into  the  bundle  under  it,  to  prevent  its  slipping 
outward  by  pressure.  Go  round  with  a  single  course, 
keeping  your  work  before  you  and  pressing  down  the 
bundles  with  your  knees.  Then  lay  another  course  in 
the  same  manner,  lapping  at  the  same  place,  and  so  on 
till  you  get  to  the  centre.  Then  commence  again  at  the 
outside,  leaving  the  butts  of  the  first  course  even  with 
those  of  the  lower  course,  or  projecting  a  little  over, 
being  careful  as  before  to  catch  the  butts  of  the  new 
course  into  the  lower  one,  and  work  inward  as  before. 
The  outside  should  be  as  little  pressed  as  convenient, 
in  building,  and  the  inside  packed  as  close  as  possible, 
so  that  the  pitch  of  the  bundles  outward  will  be  in- 
creased rather  than  diminished  as  the  stack  settles.  If 
the  heads  of  the  bundles  do  not  keep  up  the  pitch  of 
the  sheaves  equal  to  that  of  an  ordinary  roof,  when 
above  the  bilge  of  the  stack,  put  in  extra  sheaves,  in  any 
way  which  will  keep  the  surface  regular  in  form. 

"  The  butts  of  each  outside  course  should  project  a  little 
over  the  course  below *it  until  you  are  ready  to  draw  in, 
so  that  the  stack,  when  done,  will  have  the  shape  of  a 
hen's  egg,  a  little  flattened  at  the  large  end.  A  little 
marsh  hay  makes  a  good  cap,  which  should  be  secured 
against  the  winds  by  ropes  made  of  the  same,  placed 
over  the  top  and  held  by  weights  at  the  sides.  When 
you  see  a  man  build  a  stack  in  this  way,  you  may  know 
he  understands  his  business ;  but  do  not  imagine  you 
can  do  it  yourself  at  the  first  or  second  trial."  I  have 
given  these  rather  tautological  directions,  in  the  stacker's 
own  language,  that  beginners  may  understand  them  the 
better. 


400 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


DODGE'S  OHIO  AND  BUCKEYE  REAPER  AND  SELF- 
RAKER. 


The  beautiful  illustration  on  this  page  represents 
an  excellent  combined  mower  and  reaper,  made  by 
Dodge  &  Stevenson  Manufacturing  Company,  Au- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  401 

burn,  ISTew  York.  This  machine  is  a  neat  mower, 
and  can  be  rigged  for  harvesting  in  a  few  minutes. 
Large  numbers  of  this  style  of  mowers  and  reapers 
have  been  manufactured  ;  and  wherever  they  were 
introduced,  farmers  have  been  well  satisfied  with  their 
operations.  The  workmanship  is  of  a  superior  charac- 
ter ;  the  draft  is  light ;  material  is  good  and  durable  ; 
and  the  machine  is  well  adapted  to  all  kinds  of  work. 
The  self-raker  consists  of  four  independent  rakes,  so 
constructed  as  to  allow  all  of  them  to  be  in  use  for  reel- 
ing on  the  grain,  or,  by  a  slight  movement  of  the  hand 
or  foot,  causing  either  rake  to  rake  off  the  cut  grain,  in 
any  sized  gavels  required. 


WARNER'S  SULKY  RAKE. 

This  wooden  rake  combines  all  the  advantages  of 
both  the  Sulky  and  Old  Revolving  Rakes.     By  means 


FIG.  70.— Sulky  Eake. 

of  the  lever  with  its  cams  and  stops,  the  driver  has 
more  perfect  control  over  the  rake  than  can  possibly  be 
had  over  the  old-fashioned  revolver.  It  does  not  dust 
the  hay  as  wire  teeth  usually  do ;  is  easily  handled  by 
a  boy ;  and  the  inclination  of  the  teeth  is  easily  regu- 
lated, so  as  to  pass  over  any  obstacle,  or  dip  into  a 


402 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUEIST. 


swale.  The  draw-bars  are  jointed,  so  that  the  rake  can 
be  folded  up,  upon  the  sulky,  and  thus  be  easily  trans- 
ported. This  rake  is  made  by  H.  N.  Tracy,  Essex  Junc- 
tion, Vermont  ;  by  Blymyer,  Day  &  Co.,  JV^ansfield, 
Ohio ;  and  Blymyer,  Norton  &  Co.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 


ALDEN'S  WHEEL  RAKE. 

The  illustration  herewith  given  (Fig.  71),  represents 
an  excellent  spring-tooth  rake,  which  T  can  recommend 


FIG.  71.— Alden's  Wheel  Bake. 


as  being  a  valuable,  labor-saving  implement.     The  cut 
furnishes  such  a  correct  idea  of  it,  that  I  shall  give  no 


THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


403 


description  of  it.     M.  Alden  &  Co.,  Auburn,  New  York, 
are  the  only  manufacturers  that  I  know  of. 

THE  BUCKEYE  MOWER  AND  EEAPER. 


The  illustration  accompanying  these  notes  represents 
the  celebrated  Buckeye  Harvester  with  the  self-raker 


404:  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

attachment,  which  is  very  light,  simple,  and  compact, 
its  weight  being  no  greater  than  that  of  an  ordinary 
hand-rake  attachment.  It  does  not  interfere  in  the 
slightest  degree  with  the  simplicity  of  the  machine  as  a 
mower,  and  is  very  readily  and  easily  attached  and  de- 
tached. The  following  is  the  description  of  the  Self- 
Raker  given  in  the  official  report  of  the  great  Auburn 
trial,  when  the  Buckeye  won  such  world-wide  fame  : 

"  A  disk  with  four  joints  carries  four  rakes  or  sweeps 
with  rollers  at  right  angles,  which  work  in  inclined 
ways,  with  a  switch,  which  makes  them  act  as  beaters 
or  rakes  at  pleasure.  The  rake-teeth  drop  down  nearly 
to  a  level  with  the  guards  to  catch  lodged  grain,  and 
pass  over  a  rake-guard,  to  prevent  the  teeth  from 
springing  down  on  the  guards  in  rough  ground,  the 
rake  rising  quickly  afterward.  The  inclined  ways  are 
adjustable,  to  give  different  motions  to  the  rake.  The 
ability  which  this  arrangement  gives  to  the  machine, 
to  cut  long  or  short  grain  with  equal  facility,  without 
making  tedious  adjustments,  constitutes  its  greatest 
merit.  It  will  deliver  the  gavels  in  regular  intervals 
of  space  when  the  grain  stands  equal  in  height  and 
thickness,  or  the  rakes  may  be  regulated  by  the  hand  or 
foot  of  the  driver  so  as  to  deliver  any  size  of  gavels  that 
may  be  desired,  or  by  fastening  the  switch  open,  it  will 
deliver  the  grain  in  swath.  It  has  cleaners  hinged 
so  as  to  brush  back  the  grain  which  collects  on  the 
dividers  while  acting  as  reels,  leaving  it  in  good  shape 
for  the  rake  to  deliver." 

The  "  Buckeye "  is  still  manufactured  by  Adriance, 
Platt  &  Co.,  165  Greenwich  street,  New  York  city  ; 
and  the  best  thing  I  can  record  for  this  reaper  and  self- 
raker  is  to  mention  the  fact  that,  after  having  been  put 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  4:05 

to  the  most  severe  tests  in  mowing  and  harvesting 
heavy  and  tangled  grass  and  grain,  it  was  driven  into  a 
field  of  heavy  rye,  which  was  seven  feet  high,  and  every 
part,  self-rake  and  all,  worked  as  beautifully  as  a  lawn 
mower.  The  "Buckeye"  needs  no.  words  of  commend- 
ation from  my  pen.  American  farmers  are  familiar 
with  its  worthy  record. 

THE  MONTGOMERY  FORK. 

I  give  an  illustration  of  this  celebrated  fork,  made  by 
the  Montgomery  Fork  Company,  254  Pearl  street,  New 
York  city,  because  it  is  just  such 
a  fork  as  farmers  will  find  to  please 
them.  The  illustration  shows  how 
the  tines  are  secured  to  the  handle. 
Some  of  the  merits  of  this  fork  are 

FIG.  T3.-The  Montgomery       tll6Se  '    In    CaSG    a   t[l}G    br6aks>  aJ1' 

Fork.  other  can  be  replaced  instantly  at 

a  trifling  cost,  and  without  loss  of  time.  In  repairing 
one  tine  of  a  common  fork,  the  other  tine  is  invariably 
spoiled,  rendering  the  fork  good  for  nothing.  Should 
the  handle  break,  the  tines  can  be  refitted  to  another 
handle  in  a  few  minutes.  The  handle  is  not  tapered 
at  the  end  near  the  fork ;  but,  the  whole  strength  of 
the  wood  is  left ;  and  when  the  ferrule  is  in  its  place  it 
binds  the  whole  -together,  as  if  one  solid  substance. 
The  process  of  manufacture  gives  a  more  uniform 
texture  of  steel  than  can  be  produced  by  any  other 
method.  The  weight  is  no  more  than  the  common 
fork.  The  tines  are  warranted  not  to  work  loose. 
This  fork  took  the  first  premium  at  the  New  York  State 
Fair  at  Buffalo.,  1867. 


406 


THE    WHEAT   CULTUKIST. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MILDEW  IN  WHEAT. 

THERE  have  been  volumes  penned  about  mildew  in 
wheat,  and  other  plants  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  be  obliged 


FIG.  74.— Mildew  in  Wheat. 


to  record  that,  after  all  that  has  been  said,  we  know 
very  little  about  it.  In  order  to  give  wheat-growers 
something  of  an  idea  of  mildew,  I  herewith  furnish  an 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST. 


407 


illustration  (Fig.  74),  which  represents  the  mildew  of 
wheat,  greatly  magnified.  To  the  naked  eye  these  beau- 
tiful fungi  seem  more  like  the  minute  particles  of  dust 
on  a  miller's  hat,  than  anything  else. 

To  the  practical  wheat  grower  the  great  question  is : 
What  is  mildew?  what  causes  it?  and,  what  is  the 
remedy  f 

I  answer  in  brief:  Mildew  is  a  disease  of  the  grow- 
ing wheat.  The  plants  are  covered  with  a  white  sub- 
stance, which  is  made  up  of  minute  fungi,  which  ap- 
pear in  spots  on  the  straw.  These  parasites,  repre- 
sented by  Fig.  74,  are  minute 
plants,  growing  on  the  wheat 
plant,  and  extracting  the  juices 
that  should  be  appropriated  to 
the  development  of  the  grain. 
After  reading  scores  of  pages 
about  mildew,  in  which  various 
plausible  theories  are  broached 
by  one  author,  and  the  same 
theories  controverted  by  an- 
other author  of  equally  reliable 
authority,  I  have  to  again  ac- 
knowledge that  we  know  little 
about  the  cause,  or  the  remedy. 

By  referring  again  to  Fig. 
74,  it  may  be  seen,  that  the 
ends  of  the  delicate  creeping 
threads  bear  spores,  or  sporules, 
which  fall  off,  an  I  fly  like  dust,  in  the  a'r.  Some- 
times these  spores  form  quite  a  little  cloud.  Strange 
as  it  may  appear,  these  infinitesimally  small  parti- 
cles of  dust  are  seeds,  so  to  speak,  from  which  millions 


FIG.  75.— Bust  magnified. 


408 


THE   WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


of  plants  spring.  The  spores  are  borne  along  in 
the  wind,  among  the  growing  wheat;  and  wherever 
the  straw  is  not  perfectly  healthy,  and  able  to  resist  the 
attacks  of  such  parasitic  fungus,  the  seeds  adhere  to  the 
diseased  leaves  and  stems,  germinate,  grow,  and  tend  to 
destroy  the  crop. 

There  are  many  kinds  of  mildew  and  rust,  which 
originate  from  spores.  Fig.  75  represents  a  magni- 
fied view  of  a  small  portion  of  what  is  scientifically 
called  uredo  rubigo  vera,  in  which  the  spores  are  repre- 
sented with  a  sort  of  basket-work  extending  from  one 
to  another. 

SMUT  IN  WHEAT. 

The  illustration  herewith  given  (Fig.  76)  represents 
a  magnified  view  of  what  is  scientifically  known  as 

uredo  caries,  which  is  common 
to  wheat ;  and  seldom  attacks 
any  other  cereal  plant.  The 
dark-colored  excrescences  rep- 
resent the  spores  or  seeds  of 
the  uredo  caries.  Unlike  other 
maladies,  this  one  takes  its  ori- 
gin in  the  interior  juices  of  the 
wheat  plant;  and  aifects  the 
kernels,  instead  of  the  straw. 
The  pericarp  of  the  kernels  of 
wheat  contains  a  black  mate- 
rial, greasy  to  the  touch,  in- 
stead of  flour.  The  dust  of  caries,  unlike  that  of 
smut,  emits  an  unpleasant  odor;  and  the  nauseous 
smell  is  sometimes  perceived  in  wheat  bread.  The 
semeniform  grains  of  the  caries  (Fig.  76)  attach  them- 


Fio.  76.— Smut  magnified. 


THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST.  409 

selves  to  the  minute  hairs  that  are  usually  seen  with  the 
naked  eje  on  kernels  of  wheat.  Machinery  will  sel- 
dom remove  these  spores.  Therefore,  their  removal 
must  be  effected  by  soaking  the  grain,  and  applying 
some  chemical  substance,  that  will  decompose  the  spor- 
ules,  without  injuring  the  germs  of  the  kernels  of  wheat. 
Those  spores  adhering  to  the  sound  grains  at  the  time 
of  sowing,  remain  in  that  state,  till  the  young  plant 
starts  its  growth,  when  they  are  supposed  to  enter  the 
spongioles  of  the  roots  of  the  young  plant ;  and,  with 
the  ascending  sap,  are  propelled  through  the  tissues  of 
the  plant,  till  they  reach  the  young  ovum,  where  they 
find  a  suitable  place  for  vegetation,  rendering  fecunda- 
tion impossible.  Yet  the  grains  continue  to  swell ;  and 
when  harvest  comes,  they  are  perhaps  larger  than  the 
healthy  ones  ;  and  curiously  enough,  the  stigmata  of  the 
flowers  are  not  destroyed. 

PICKLING  SEED  WHEAT. 

In  this  important  operation  the  science  of  chemistry 
affords  the  practical  wheat-grower  important  aid.  We 
have  seen,  on  the  two  preceding  pages,  how  smut  or 
"  bunt "  is  propagated.  The  object  now  is  to  destroy 
it.  The  basis  of  all  pickling  or  dressing  consists  in 
converting  the  greasy,  oily  sportiles  which  adhere  to  the 
Bound  grains  into  a  soap,  which  facilitates  their  removal. 

Sulphate  of  copper  (blue  vitriol)  is  sometimes  em- 
ployed for  pickling  wheat,  in  the  following  manner: 
Four  pounds  of  the  vitriol  should  be  dissolved  in  about 
two  gallons  of  boiling  water ;  and  when  fully  dissolved, 
placed  in  a  large  tub — an  old  hogshead  cut  through  the 
middle  answers  the  purpose  very  well ;  and  add  about 

18 


4:10  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

twenty  gallons  of  cold  water.  Procure  a  wicker  basket, 
of  suitable  shape  to  go  into  the  tub,  large  and  strong 
enough  to  hold  a  bushel  and  a  half  of  wheat.  Place  the 
basket  in  the  liquid,  and  gently  pour  into  it  th§  wheat. 
By  adopting  this  precaution,  the  light  and  imperfect 
grains,  chaff,  or  small  seed  will  float  at  the  top  ;  and 
may  be  skimmed  off  the  surface.  Having  proceeded 
thus  far,  lift  the  basket,  and  allow  it  to  drain  over  the 
tub.  Empty  the  same,  and  proceed  with  the  next  lot. 

While  the  seed  is  soaking,  let  it  be  stirred  .with  a 
stick,  for  a  few  minutes.  By  this  means,  all  the  light 
and  imperfect  kernels  may  be  worked  to  the  surface, 
and  skimmed  off  the  surface  of  the  water.  For  each 
four  or  five  bushels  of  wheat,  dissolve  one  pound  of  blue 
vitriol  in  water  sufficient  to  cover  and  properly  soak  the 
wheat.  Some  farmers  say,  let  it  remain  in  this  soak 
twenty  to  twenty-four  hours,  and  sow  immediately  after 
taken  out  of  the  soak.  But  there  is  great  danger  of 
soaking  the  seed  too  long.  It  requires  but  a  short  time 
to  destroy  the  sporules  of  smut.  So  soon  as  the  spores 
are  destroyed,  the  seed  should  be  removed  from  the 
soak,  or  steep.  The  seed  should  not  be  kept  in  "the 
liquid  long  enough  to  moisten  the  germs.  The  main 
point  is  to  remove  the  material  that  adheres  to  the  ex- 
terior of  the  kernels.  Spread  the  wet  seed  on  a  floor, 
and  sift  lime,  or  gypsum,  or  ashes  over  the  surface ;  and 
rake  it  in.  This  will  render  the  seed  dry,  so  that  it  can 
be  sowed,  or  drilled  in,  without  difficulty. 

A  North  Carolina  farmer  says,  that  the  best  prevent- 
ive of  smut  is,  to  make  a  brine  strong  enough  to  bear 
an  egg ;  pour  this  as  hot  as  the  hand  can  bear  into  a 
half-barrel  tub  ;  put  in  half  a  bushel  of  the  wheat  you 
are  about  to  sow  ;  stir  it  up  well  in  the  tub  ;  let  it  set- 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  411 

tie  two  or  three  minutes ;  skim  off  all  the  light  grain 
and  chaff  that  rises  to  the  top  ;  stir  it  up  again ;  repeat 
skimming  ;  then  pour  off  the  brine,  which  can  be 
warmed  again,  and  used  for  another  lot  of  wheat. 
Now  spread  the  wheat  on  clean  boards  or  a  cloth  in  the 
sun,  or  on  the  barn  floor,  or  any  convenient  place. 
Take  slacked  lime  and  sift  enough  over  the  brined  wheat 
to  cover  it  well ;  and  as  soon  as  dry,  put  it  into  a  bag  or 
basket  for  sowing.  Some  farmers  damp  the  wheat  in  a 
heap  on  the  floor,  and  mix  up  two  or  three  quarts  of 
lime  with  it,  and  then  spread  it  out  upon  boards.  If  in 
the  sun,  it  will  dry  in  half  an  hour ;  if  in  the  shade,  it 
sometimes  takes  two  or  three  hours.  But,  let  no  man 
suppose  that  his  crop  will  be  safe  from  smut,  unless  he 
has  first  secured  a  hardy  variety  of  wheat,  as  laid  down 
in  another  part  of  this  book.  Various  preparations  of 
vitriol,  nitre,  sulphur,  and  arsenic  have  been  tried,  in 
some  instances,  with  considerable  benefit.  Our  agricul- 
tural papers  and  books  are  full  of  directions  for  the 
treatment  of  seed  wheat.  But  let  the  reader  beware 
of  puerile  experiments  with  his  seed,  such  as  he  will 
find  recorded  on  page  318. 

EXPERIMENTS  WITH  SMUT  IN  WHEAT. 

For  the  purpose  of  determining  the  influence  of  smut 
on  sown  grain,  Mr.  Bailey,  of  Chellingham,  tried  experi- 
ments on  seed  in  which  were  a  few  balls  of  smut.  One 
third  of  the  seed  was  steeped  in  urine,  and  limed  ;  one 
third  steeped  in  urine,  dried,  and  not  limed ;  and  the  othei 
third  sown  without  steeping  or  liming.  -  The  result  was, 
that  the  seed  which  had  been  pickled  and  limed,  and 
that  which  was  pickled  and  not  limed,  was  almost  free 


412  THE   WHEAT   CULTURI8T. 

of  smut,  while  that  which  was  sown  without  under- 
going this  process  was  much  diseased.  The  following 
experiments  were  made  at  Lord  Chesterfield's  farm  of 
Bradlj  Hall,  in  Derbyshire  :  The  first  was  on  a  peck  of 
very  smutty  wheat,  one-half  which  was  sown  in  the 
state  it  was  bought,  and  the  other  washed  in  three 
waters,  steeped  two  hours  in  brine  strong  enough  to 
float  an  egg,  and  then  limed.  The  result  was,  that  two- 
thirds  of  the  wheat  grown  from  the  unwashed  seed  was 
smutty,  while  that  produced  by  the  steeped  and  limed 
seed  had  not  a  single  ear  of  smut.  The  second  experi- 
ment was  made  upon  some  very  fine  wheat,  perfectly 
free  from  smut.  A  quart  of  this  was  washed  in  three 
waters,  to  make  it  perfectly  clean  ;  it  was  then  put  for 
two  days  into  a  bag  in  which  was  some  black  dust  of 
smutty  grain ;  and  the  result  was,  that  a  large  portion 
of  wheat  thus  sown  was  smutty,  while  out  of  twenty 
acres  sown  with  the  same  grain,  not  inoculated,  not  one 
smutty  ear  was  found.  Mr.  Taylor,  Jr.,  of  Ditching- 
ham,  near  Bungary,  rubbed  a  number  of  ears  of  wheat 
with  the  powder  of  smut,  having  moistened  them  to 
make  the  powder  adhere ;  one-half  of  these  were  washed, 
wetted  with  chamber  lye,  and  limed.  A  similar  quan- 
tity of  dry  wheat  was  then  procured,  the  whole  being 
dibbled,  each  parcel  by  itself.  The  produce  of  the  in- 
fected wheat  was  three-fourths  smut ;  the  same  infected 
wheat,  steeped  and  limed,  was  perfectly  sound.  The 
contagious  smut-powder  adheres  to  sacks  and  barns  with 
which  it  has  been  in  contact ;  it  attaches  itself  to  the 
straw  and  chaff,  and  is  thus  probably  in  many  instances 
carried  from  the  barn  and  stable  doors,  when  the  dung 
is  taken  green  to  the  fields,  without  being  properly 
turned  and  fermented.  The  infection  may  indeed  be 


THE   WHEAT   CULTTJEI8T.  413 

carried  by  the  wind  from  other  fields,  and  in  various 
ways  which  cannot  be  guarded  against.  But  no  per- 
son, who  is  duly  sensible  that  the  disease  may  be 
checked,  if  not  wholly  eradicated,  by  careful  attention, 
should  hesitate  to  employ  all  those  means  of  preven- 
tion which  may  be  in  his  power.  The  barn  in  which 
wheat  has  been  either  stored  or  thrashed,  should  therefore 
be  thoroughly  aired,  and  every  corner  swept ;  if  also 
the  walls  of  the  interior  were  well  washed  with  strong 
lime-water,  the  precaution  would  not  be  improper ;  and 
sacks  which  have  held  the  infected  grain  should  be  im- 
mersed in  a  similar  solution." 


EKGOTED  WHEAT. 

A  writer  representing  the  Botanical  Society  of  Can- 
ada West,  records  the  following  suggestions  concern- 
ing the  ergot  in  wheat,  in  that  province.  But  little  is 
known  of  ergot  in  wheat  in  the  States,  except  in  certain 
localities.  The  writer  says  : 

"  In  addition  to  the  various  pests  that  have  already 
been  noticed  as  affecting  the  wheat  crops  this  season, 
there  is  one  .in  more  than  usual  abundance,  viz. :  Ergot. 
This  is  a  very  remarkable  fungus,  Claviceps  purpurea, 
Fr.,  which  swells  up  the  grain  into  an  enlarged,  black, 
tough  mass.  If  a  field  of  wheat  be  examined,  it  will 
be  seen  that  some  of  the  ears  have  one  or  more  large, 
black,  horn-like  processes  projecting  from  among  the 
grains.  These  are  the  ergoted  grains.  This  disease  is 
common  in  many  parts  of  this  province. 

"  Ergot  of  wheat  has  similar  properties  to  ergot  of  rye, 
but  is  by  no  means  so  common  in  Europe.  On  the 
American  continent,  however,  it  appears  to  be  more 


4:14  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

abundant,  and  especially  this  season.  The  ergot  now 
present  in  the  wheat  fields  will,  of  course,  damage  the 
sample  of  grain  by  blackening,  and  render  the  flour  to 
a  certain  extent  unwholesome,  if  not  separated*  For- 
tunately, the  ergoted  grains  being  much  larger  in  size 
than  the  uninfected  ones,  there  is  no  great  practical 
difficulty  in  separating  them  during  the  cleaning  of  the 
grain.  The  wheat  ergot  has  no  disagreeable  taste,  in 
fact  no  decided  taste  of  any  kind,  only  a  slight  flavor  of 
mushrooms  is  perceptible,  after  chewing  for  some  time. 
When  we  reflect  on  the  energetic  physiological  action 
of  ergot,  it  will  be  seen  how  important  it  is  that  the 
ergoted  grains  should  be  carefully  cleaned  out,  not  only 
to  improve  the  sample,  but  to  render  the  grain  and  flour 
wholesome.  Bad  grain  is  apt  to  be  given  to  pigs  and 
other  domestic  animals.  Ergoted  grain  cannot  be  used 
with  impunity  in  the  preparation  of  food  for  either  man 
or  beast." 

Whatever  may  be  the  cause  of  ergoted  wheat,  the 
remedy  is  effectual  and  practicable,  which  is  this  :  pro- 
cure hardy  and  prolific  varieties  of  wheat ;  save  the 
seed  from  year  to  year  as  directed  in  this  book  ;  culti- 
tivate  thoroughly  on  rich  ground ;  and  put  the  seed 
through  a  pickle,  as  directed  on  preceding  pages.  If  a 
man  sows  the  wind  he  reaps  the  whirlwind.  If  he  sows 
smutty  or  ergoted  wheat,  the  product  will  be  smut  and 
ergot,  just  as  certainly  as  he  will  be  able  to  raise  good 
grain  when  superior  seed  is  employed. 

RUST  IN  WHEAT — THE  REMEDY. 

Without  occupying  space  in  attempting  to  tell  what 
rust  is,  and  how  it  is  produced,  I  shall  endeavor  to  point 


THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 


415 


out  the  remedy  for  it.  The  reader  can  find  all  the 
theories  about  rust  that  he  will  care  to  read,  in  works 
on  agriculture,  where  the  remedies  are  not  recorded. 
The  forlorn  farmer  often  rails  at  the  climate,  and 
cries  out  that  his  wheat  is  killed  by  rust,  while  in  fact  it 
has  died  from  starvation — from  the  want  of  that  food 
which,  as  a  provident  husbandman,  it  was  his  duty  to 
have  provided  for  it. 


FIG.  77. — Magnified  section  of  Straw,  showing  Silica  deposits. 

The  illustration  herewith  given  represents  a  small 
section  of  the  thin  pellicle,  or  skin,  of  the  stems  of  grow- 
ing wheat,  highly  magnified,  and  showing  the  manner 
of  depositing  silica  in  the  epidermis  of  the  stalk.  Silica 
is  a  substance  that  imparts  stiffness  to  straw.  The 
liquid  silica  is  deposited  all  around  the  straw,  similar  to 
enclosing  it  with  a  thin  glass  tube.  Silica  is  what  ren- 
ders wheat  straw  so  harsh  and  stiff. 

Now,  then,  the  practical  consideration  is  to  sup- 
ply the  roots  of  growing  wheat,  in  large  abundance, 


416  THE    WHEAT    CULTURIST. 

with  such  materials  as  glassmakers  use  for  making 
glass,  which  are  sand  and  potash,  or  soda.  The  pot- 
ash can  be  obtained  most  economically  by  the  appli- 
cation of  wood  ashes.  By  this  means  the  growing 
stems  will  be  enveloped  in  a  glass-like  covering,  which 
will  resist  the  attacks  of  rust  and  mildew.  The  more 
ashes,  with  a  dressing  of  sand,  that  can  be  applied  to 
wheat  soil,  the  less  liable  the  growing  wheat  will  be  to 
suffer  injury  from  rust,  mildew,  or  insects. 

INSECT  ENEMIES  OF  WHEAT. 

The  principal  insect  enemies  of  wheat  are  the  midge, 
the  Hessian  fly,  the  chinch  bug,  and  the  weevil.  As 
almost  every  agricultural  paper  and  book  contains  de- 
scriptions and  illustrations  of  the  insects  injurious  to 
wheat,  I  shall  pen  but  brief  remarks  about  any  of  them. 
The  main  point  will  be  to  oifer  suggestions  relative  to  an 
effectual  preventive  of  the  ravages  of  the  wheat  insects. 

Every  successful  wheat-grower  will  readily  admit 
that  one  of  the  most  effectual  preventives  of  the  ravages 
of  wheat  insects,  is  a  rich  soil  thoroughly  tilled.  It  in- 
variably happens  that  the  crop  is  most  seriously  injured 
on  lands  that  have  been  carelessly  tilled,  and  have  be- 
come impoverished  by  an  exhausting  course  of  cropping. 
The  thin,  puny  plants  on  such  soils,  that  are  not  entirely 
destroyed,  are  left  still  more  enfeebled  ;  whereas,  when 
the  fly-time  has  passed,  on  the  well-tilled  fields,  properly 
enriched,  the  wheat,  in  a  great  measure,  recovers  from 
the  slight  injury.  I  might  pen  a  score  of  pages  about 
the  habits  of  wheat  insects,  and  their  mode  of  propa- 
gation and  ravages  ;  but  I  will  cut  everything  short  by 
simply  stating,  that  the  correct  way  to  avoid  injury  from 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUIilST.  417 

wheat  insects  is,  to  commence  with  the  seed  first,  as 
directed  in  the  chapter  on  Seed  Grain.  Follow  all  the 
minute  directions  about  cultivating  and  fertilizing  the 
soil,  so  as  to  produce  a  luxuriant  and  healthy  growth  of 
both  straw  and  grain  ;  sow  the  seed  at  the  most  pro- 
pitious period ;  and  the  growth  of  the  grain  will  be  so 
healthful  and  rapid,  that  the  insects  will  do  but  little 
damage.  Read  the  remarks  about  The  Best  Time  to 
Sow  Wheat,  on  pages  260-269. 

Levi    Bartlett,    an   experienced   farmer  of   Warner, 
N.  H.,  writes : 

"  To  avoid  injury  from  the  ravages  of  the  midge,, 
some  farmers,  when  the  season  will  permit,  sow  early, 
sometimes  in  the  latter  part  of  April.  In  favorable 
seasons  the  wheat  gets  into  blossom  before  the  fly  makes 
its  appearance,  and  thus  the  grain  mostly  escapes  the 
midge  and  rust.  Others  prefer  sowing  their  wheat  late, 
say  from  the  20th  of  May  till  1st  of  June,  the  midge 
having  generally  disappeared  before  the  wheat  comes 
into  bloom.  But  late-sown  wheat  is  more  liable  to' 
suffer  loss  from  rust,  mildew,  etc.,  than  the  early  sown. 
From  better  manuring  of  the  land,  and  more  care  in  its 
preparation  for  the  reception  of  the  seeds,  wheat-grow- 
ing is  evidently  upon  the  increase  in  this  State  ;  though 
much  of  this  increase  is  derived  from  the  more  extended 
culture  of  winter  wheat  within  the  past  ten  years. 
Winter  wheat  can  be  grown,  yielding  good  crops,  on 
low-lying  farms,  where  it  was  useless  to  attempt  the 
raising  of  spring  wheat,  for  the  reason  that  the  winter 
wheat  would,  wken  sown  early,  and  on  suitable  soil,  get 
so  far  advanced  in  growth  before  the  appearance  of  the 
midge  fly,  as  to  entirely  escape  its  ravages,  provided  the 
soil  is  filled  with  grain-producing  pabulum." 

18* 


418  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

HABITS  OF  THE  WHEAT  MIDGE. 

This  insect  remains  in  the  earth  in  its  larva  state,  at 
least  ten  months  in  the  year,  and  buries  itself  in  ^he  soil 
from  half  an  inch  to  two  inches  in  depth.  This  is  true, 
at  least  in  regard  to  the  larger  number  of  them.  Others 
remain  in  the  chaif  of  the  wheat,  and  are  conveyed  to 
the  grain-mow,  or  the  stack.  But  there  is  no  positive 
evidence  that  these  ever  become  sufficiently  vitalized  to 
perpetuate  their  species,  although,  according  to  experi- 
ments made  by  Dr.  Fitch,  of  New  York,  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  they  do.  Certain  kinds  of  wheat  are 
less  liable  to  injury  from  the  attacks  of  these  insects 
than  others.  See  page  47.  Dr.  Rathvon  is  of  the 
opinion  that  the  larvae  of  the  wheat  midges  do  not  im- 
bibe the  milky  fluid  of  the  young  wheat  grains ;  but 
feed  upon  the  epidermis  or  outer  integument,  and  that 
the  destruction  or  injury  of  this,  is  what  causes  the  ulti- 
mate depletion  of  the  grains. 

Mr.  Rath  von  is  also  satisfied  that  the  wheat  midge 
has  not  the  power  to  puncture  or  penetrate  the  chaff  of 
the  wheat  with  its  ovipositor,  for  the  purpose  of  deposit- 
ing its  eggs  upon  the  grain  ;  nor  do  the  larvae  reach 
it  through  such  a  puncture.  But  the  grain  is  reached 
through  the  separation,  or  opening  of  the  valvules 
that  enclose  the  grain,  generally  when  it  is  in  bloom. 
The  largest  number  of  the  eggs  of  the  insect  are  de- 
posited on  the  outside  of  the  chaff,  where  they  are 
either  washed  off  by  the  heavy  rains,  or  are  burnt  or 
dried  up  by  the  hot  sun.  But,  ia  whatever  way 
these  insects  may  injure  the  growing  wheat,  the  only 
effectual  remedy  has  already  been  given,  on  pages  415 
and  416. 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  419 


WHEAT  WORMS. 

In  several  States,  numerous  farmers  have  observed  a 
kind  of  minute  caterpillars  on  their  growing  wheat, 
such  as  are  frequently  seen  on  red  clover.  The  editor 
of  the  "  Western  Kural  "  states  that  they  are  supposed 
to  be  identical  with  the  clover  worms,  which  may  be 
seen  spinning  down  from  lofts  on  which  clover  has  been 
stored.  The  caterpillars  assume  the  form  of  chrysalids 
in  September  and  October;  and  the  perfect  insect  ap- 
pears in  June,  and  deposits  its  eggs  on  the  wheat, 
shortly  after  the  ears  have  shot  out.  These  worms  are 
called  by  various  names,  in  different  localities.  In  some 
places  they  are  spoken  of  as  gray  worms,  and  in  other 
localities  wheat  worms.  It  is  not  probable  that  any  of 
the  eggs  are  attached  to  the  ripened  grain  ;  but  in  order 
to  guard  against  danger  from  this  source,  and  also  to 
kill  any  of  the  insects  that  have  not  been  separated  from 
the  grain  by  the  fanning  mill,  the  seed  should  be  steeped 
in  a  strong  brine,  and  afterward  mixed  with  dry  lime. 
By  this  treatment,  insects  and  their  eggs  will  be 
destroyed,  and  smut  prevented.  Chaff  which  con- 
tains large  numbers  of  these  caterpillars,  should  be 
burned. 

The  true  remedy,  in  addition  to  the  foregoing  sugges- 
tions, is,  to  fatten  the  soil,  so  as  to  make  the  wheat  grow 
so  luxuriantly,  that  the  little  which  the  insects  consume 
will  not  be  missed  in  the  growth  of  the  wheat. 

THE  CHINCH  BUG. 

This  pernicious  insect  is  a  very  small  bug,  of  a  black 
color,  with  white  wings.  In  some  localities  they  are 


420  THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURIST. 

called  "  Mormon  lice."  See  Dr.  A.  Fitch  on  Insects, 
and  Klippart's  Wheat  Plant. 

Dr.  Sherman,  of  Waukegan,  Illinois,  after  a  patient 
series  of  microscopical  observations,  made  a  discovery 
which  will  snrely  interest  wheat-growers  who  have  been 
troubled  by  the  chinch-bug  pest.  His  investigations 
have  shown  that  the  seed  wheat  or  kernel  was  used  as 
a  sort  of  "  foster-mother  "  by  the  bug  ;  and  that  in  all 
wheat  grown  upon  land  where  there  are  bugs,  there  is 
deposited,  in  the  fuzzy  end  of  the  kernel,  a  large  quan- 
tity of  eggs,  which  produce  the  bugs  next  season.  It 
follows  that,  if  the  kernel  of  seed  wheat  is  the  general 
depository  of  the  eggs  of  the  chinch  bug,  our  farmers 
have  been  sowing  the  pest  each  year,  as  regularly  as 
they  have  their  wheat ;  and  if  such  is  the  case,  the  erad- 
ication of  the  bug  will  be  easily  accomplished — either 
by  sowing  no  wheat  that  has  been  in  contact  with  the 
bug,  or  by  steeping  the  seed  in  some  solution  before 
sowing,  which  will  destroy  the  larva.  If  this  remedy 
fails,  when  the  seed  has  been  selected  for  a  few  years, 
according  to  directions  in  Chapter  III.,  the  wheat  crop 
must  fall  a  prey  to  these  devouring  insects. 

It  •will  be  an  interesting  exercise  to  read  all  that 
may  be  said  about  the  numerous  insects  injurious  to 
growing  wheat,  in  the  books  alluded  to  above.  But, 
after  all  that  can  be  said,  the  practical  consideration  is, 
What  can  ~be  done  to  prevent  or  escape  their  ravages  f 
I  answer,  for  the  third  and  last  time,  Save  your  seed 
with  care  ;  select  varieties  that  are  insect-proof,  if  pos- 
sible ;  sow  the  seed  at  the  most  auspicious  period ;  and 
fatten  the  soil  with  rich  manure.  Let  wheat  culture 
receive  the  same  attention  that  breeders  of  choice  ani- 
mals give  to  rearing  improved  stock. 


THE   WHEAT    CULTURIST. 


421 


IMPROVED  THRASHING  MACHINES. 
The  illustration   shown   on  this  page  represents  a 


new  style  of  thrashing  machine,   made   by  Wheeler, 
Melick  &  Co.,  Albany,  New  York,  for  thrashing  wheat 


422  THE    WHEAT    CULTUKIST. 

and  long  rye  without  breaking,  or  tangling  the  straw. 
This  thrasher  is  one  of  the  most  ingenious  labor-saving 
machines  that  I  know  of.  It  is  similar  to  a  thrasher 
invented  by  Rev.  IS".  Palmer,  Hudson,  'New  Yorl^,  which 
operated  with  two  long  cylinders  about  five  and  a  half 
feet  long  and  fourteen  inches  in  diameter,  made  to  re- 
volve toward  each  other. 

The  unthrashed  grain  is  fed  sideways  into  the  machine, 
instead  of  lengthways.  If  some  of  the  straws  enter  in 
a  diagonal  direction,  they  will  be  brought  out  straight. 
The  straw  is  carried  by  the  carrier  beyond  the  rear  end, 
where  it  is  deposited  in  gavels  of  any  desired  size.  When 
the  machine  is  in  operation,  two  active  laborers  will 
bind  the  straw  as  fast  as  the  machine  thrashes  it. 

Straw  thrashed  with  such  a  machine  is  much  more 
valuable  in  market  than  if  it  had  been  thrashed  with  a 
machine  that  breaks  it  into  short  pieces ;  and  more  than 
this,  the  bundles  can  be  stored  in  a  smaller  space,  and 
it  is  more  convenient  for  being  fed  into  a  straw-cutter 
after  being  thrashed.  This  machine  will  thrash  all  kinds 
of  cereal  grain  as  fast  as  spiked  machines ;  and  when 
the  straw  is  long  and  heavy,  I  think  it  will  thrash  faster, 
with  the  same  power,  than  the  other  thrashers  which 
shell  out  the  grain  by  means  of  spikes.  Two  horses  will 
drive  such  a  machine,  when  attached  to  a  railway  power, 
and  do  a  fair  business ;  but  a  three-horse  railway  power 
will  give  the  cylinders  a  furious  velocity ;  and  an  active 
man  will  be  obliged  to  work  lively  in  order  to  feed  the 
machine  to  the  capacity  of  the  thrasher. 

The  reason  why  such  a  machine  will  thrash  long 
heavy  straw  more  rapidly  than  a  spiked  thrasher,  is, 
that  a  large  proportion  of  the  effective  force  of  the  team 
is  absorbed  in  breaking  the  straw  to  pieces  by  means  of 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  423 

the  spikes,  while  the  corrugated  cylinder  works  the  long 
straw  through  the  machine  with  the  expenditure  of 
little  power. 

THE  NATIONAL  FODDER-CUTTER. 

The  accompanying  illustration  of  a  fodder-cutter  re- 
presents a  machine  of  great  superiority,  made  by  J. 


FIG.  79.— Fodder-cutter. 

D.  Burdick  &  Co.,  New  Haven,  Connecticut.  These 
machines  are  made  of  several  different  sizes/ to  suit  the 
requirements  of  small  as  well  as  large  farmers.  The 
small  ones  are  worked  by  hand,  and  the  large  sizes  can 
be  driven  by  horse,  or  steam  power. 

I  consider  a  good  fodder-cutter  to  be  an  implement- 
that  every  successful  wheat-grower  needs.  In  order  to 
raise  wheat  successfully  from  year  to  year,  a  farmer 
must  keep  neat  cattle  or  sheep ;  and  if  he  makes  such 


424r  THE    WHEAT    CULTTJRIST. 

use  of  his  wheat  straw  as  will  be  necessary,  in  order  to 
maintain  the  fertility  of  the  land,  he  must  cut  his  fod- 
der and  make  rich  manure  by  feeding  cattle,  or  sheep. 
In  order,  therefore,  to  be  able  to  cut  straw  or  any  kind 
of  fodder  economically,  one  must  have  a  first-rate 
machine.  I  know  of  no  kind  better  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  common  farmers  than  the  National  Cutter. 


MANAGEMENT  OF  WHEAT  GLEANINGS. 

The  grain  that  is  gleaned  with  horse  rakes  in  wheat 
stubbles,  after  the  crop  has  been  harvested,  should  never 
be  mingled  with  the  other  grain,  as  the  gleaned  grain  is 
seldom  fit  for  seed,  and  never  suitable  to  be  ground  into 
flour  for  human  food.  When  the  scattered  heads  of 
grain  are  gathered  with  the  horse  rakes,  the  teeth  of  the 
rakes  will  always  tear  up  sods,  grit,  and  small  stones, 
much  of  which  will  be  collected  with  the  gleanings. 
Then,  when  this  unthrashed  grain  is  put  through  the 
thrashing-machine,  small  hard  stones  are  liable,  in  many 
instances,  to  injure  the  machine  more  than  the  value  of 
severaF^bushels  of  gleaned  grain.  Gleaned  wheat  is 
only  fit  for  cattle  feed,  because  the  heads  have  usually 
lain  in  the  rain,  dews,  and  sunshine,  until  the  kernels 
have  been  swelled  and  shrunken  and  dusted  over  with 
grit  which  is  dashed  over  the  straw  during  showers  of 
rain.  This  alternate  wetting  and  drying  of  the  grain 
injures  the  germ  of  every  kernel.  Therefore,  if  the 
grain  be  mingled  with  clean  grain  for  seed,  a  loss  must 
•be  sustained  equal  to  the  value  of  such  grain.  Such 
kernels  will  make  meal  for  domestic  animals ;  but  if 
employed  for  seed,  they  will  not  vegetate.  When  such 
grain  is  ground  into  flour,  after  having  been  mingled 


THE   WHEAT   CULTURIST.  425 

with  clean  wheat  of  a  bright  color,  a  small  quantity 
will  injure  the  excellence  of  the  bread,  by  rendering 
the  white  flour  dark-colored  and  the  bread  gritty.  The 
truth  is,  that  no  one  can  make  light  white  bread,  such 
as  an  ambitious  farmer  would  place  on  a  table  before 
his  guests,  when  a  portion  of  the  flour  is  made  of  grain 
that  has  been  gleaned.  If  such  grain  be  ground  into 
Graham  flour,  the  bread  made  of  the  unbolted  flour 
will  be  dark-colored,  heavy,  and  gritty.  The  most  skil- 
ful baker  in  the  land  cannot  make  excellent  bread  of 
any  kind,  nor  pie-crust,  nor  cake,  out  of  the  flour  of 
gleaned  wheat  that  has  been  wet  and  dried. 

Most  farmers  contend  that  such  grain  will  sell  for  just 
as  much  per  bushel,  if  mingled  with  the  crop — which  is 
all  true.  But  dealers  ought  to  make  a  deduction  in  the 
price  of  every  bushel  of  wheat,  which  has  gleaned  grain 
mingled  with  it.  The  large  quantities  of  gleaned  wheat 
that  are  gathered  with  horse  rakes,  in  the  wheat-growing 
districts  of  the  country,  is  one  prime  cause  of  so  much 
dark-colored  flour  and  heavy,  soggy,  and  clammy  bread, 
of  which  the  great  mass  of  people  have  just  cause  to 
murmur.  Farmers  alone  are. the  parties  on  whom  the 
blame  ought  to  rest.  And  farmers  are  the  persons  who 
should  correct  this  world-wide  evil,  of  which  so  much 
complaint  is  constantly  made  in  relation  to  dark  flour, 
heavy  and  gritty  bread. 

Wheat  gleanings  should  be  kept  entirely  separate 
from  the  clean  wheat,  and  thrashed  separately,  or  be 
thrashed  with  other  cereal  grain  that  is  to  be  employed 
for  feeding  domestic  animals.  Gleaned  grain  will  make 
excellent  chicken  feed ;  and  if  the  gleanings  be  thrashed 
with  oats,  barley,  or  rye,  which  is  to  be  ground  for  feed- 
ing stock,  its  value  will  not  be  lost.  And  although  a 


426  THE    WHEAT    CTJLTURIST. 

person  may  not  realize  quite  so  much  money  per  bushel 
for  his  gleanings,  when  used  up  in  this  manner,  as  when 
the  gleaned  grain  is  sold  with  the  crop,  still,  he  would 
have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  his  wheat  went  to 
market  in  a  merchantable  condition,  and  that  the  flour 
produced  from  it,  would  not  fail  -  to  make  excellent 
bread,  both  for  the  rich  and  the  poor,  who  depend  on 
the  farmers  to  deliver  them  a  good  article  of  food,  which 
no  one  would  hesitate  to  set  before  his  guests. 

When  grain  has  been  gleaned  with  horse  rakes,  the 
wads  or  rakefuls  should  be  shaken  apart  with  much 
care,  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  removing  all  stones  and 
sods  that  may  have  been  gathered  by  the  rake-teeth, 
and  for  exposing  the  damp  straw  to  the  influences  of 
the  sun  and  drying  wind.  In  case  of  a  storm  of  rain 
before  gleanings  can  be  secured  in  the  barn  or  stack, 
let  the  windrows  be  forked  into  large  cocks  and  covered 
with  hay  caps.  Then  as  the  gleanings  are  usually 
hauled  to  the  barn  after  the  sheaves  have  been  gathered, 
they  can  be  thrashed  and  kept  separate  from  the  clean 
grain  with  little  or  no  difficulty. 

CUTTING  VEGETABLES  FOE  STOCK. 

Every  careful  farmer  who  has  been  accustomed  to 
feed  fruit  and  vegetables  to  any  kind  of  stock  under- 
stands and  appreciates  the  importance  of  reducing  all 
kinds  of  vegetables  to  small  pieces,  before  feeding  them 
to  any  kind  of  domestic  animals,  except  horses  and 
mules,  which  have  front  teeth  on  both  jaws,  with 
which  they  can  nip  their  food.  When  neat  cattle  and 
sheep  are  required  to  eat  pumpkins,  turnips,  carrots,  po- 
tatoes, or  apples,  when  the  pieces  are  so  large  that  they 


THE   WHEAT   CULTUKI6T.  427 

cannot  be  placed  readily  between  the  double  teeth,  the 
animals  are  exceedingly  liable  to  get  choked.  Besides 
this,  if  an  animal's  teeth  are  poor,  they  are  required 
to  make  a  great  exertion  to  eat  vegetables  unless  they 
are  cut  into  small  bits. 

The  accompanying  illustration  represents  a  vegetable 
cutter,  which  has  given  excellent  satisfaction,  for  cutting 
pumpkins,  turnips,  and  all  kinds  of  roots  into  small 


FIG.  80.— Excelsior  Boot  Cutter. 


pieces  for  sheep  or  cows.  I  think  it  is  the  best  cutter 
in  market,  at  the  present  writing,  as  J.  S.  Robertson, 
Syracuse,  K  Y.,  the  inventor,  has  received  many  pre- 
miums and  medals  from  Agricultural  Societies,  on  this 
cutter.  At  the  State  Fair,  Buffalo,  it  cut  a  bushel  of 
potatoes  fine  enough  for  sheep  in  twenty-six  seconds. 


428  THE    WHEAT   CULTURIST. 

The  pumpkins  or  roots  to  be  cut  are  put  in  the  box  so 
that  they  come  in  contact  with  the  cylinder,  the  upper 
side  of  which  is  shown  in  the  figure.  The  cylinder  is 
hollow,  being  made  of  hard  iron.  Small  gouge-shaped 
cutters  are  secured  to  the  surface  of  the  cylinder,  which 
gouge  out  pieces  of  the  vegetables  about  as  large  as  a 
man's  thumb.  Such  pieces  are  of  convenient  size  for 
sheep  or  any  other  stock  to  eat  with  facility.  A  small 
lad  or  girl  can  cut  a  bushel  of  roots  in  about  one  min- 
ute, with  comparative  ease. 

The  cutters  can  be  adjusted  to  cut  very  fine,  or 
coarse.  If  the  knives  become  dull,  the  edge  can  be  put 
in  order  in  a  few  minutes  with  a  round  file.  If  vege- 
tables and  apples  could  be  reduced  to  a  fine  pulp  before 
they  are  fed  to  stock,  the  animals  would  extract  more 
nourishment  from  the  feed,  than  if  such  coarse  materials 
were  simply  run  through  a  vegetable  cutter. 

It  is  an  excellent  practice,  when  feeding  stock  of  any 
kind  with  cut  or  pulped  vegetables,  to  mingle  meal  of 
any  kind  of  grain  with  the  pulped  feed,  as  there  is  al- 
ways more  or  less  advantage  in  mingling  several  kinds 
of  food  together,  before  animals  are  supplied  with  their 
usual  allowance.  Every  wheat  grower  should  have 
such  a  root  cutter.  When  raising  roots,  feeding  stock, 
and  growing  wheat  are  properly  combined,  our  country 
will  be  noted  for  beautiful  crops  of  excellent  wheat. 


THE   END. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Absurdities  Exposed,  ...     78 

Alabama  Wheat,      .     .     .     .100 

Alden's  Quack  Rake,    .     .     .145 

Andriolo  Wheat,  four-rowed,  104 

"         Red  and  Hairy,      .  102 

Black, 101 

B 

Bands,  How  to  Make,  .     .     .  357 

Band  Maker, 363 

Binder,  Skilful, 359 

Binding  Disadvantageously,  .  361 
Blossoms  of  Wheat,  ...  39 
Black  Sea  Spring  Wheat,  .  .  116 
Blue  Stem  Wheat,  ....  96 
Botanical  Description  of 

Wheat,    . 24 

Bull  Wheat, 97 


C 

Gaboon's  Seed  Sower, 
Caps,  How  to  Make,     .     . 
Cayuga  Chief,     .... 
Carbonaceous  Material,     . 
Cattle  and  Wheat,    .     .     . 
Charcoal  Dust  for  Wheat, 
Chemical  Structure  of  Wheat 
Climatic  Influences,     .     . 
Climatology  of  Wheat,     . 
Clover  Sod  for  Wheat,  .     . 
"      Ploughing  in,     .     . 
Conclusion  of  Wheat-growing 
Coulter,  Spink's,      .     .     . 
Crevecoeur's  Speech,     .     . 
Cradles,    Suggestions   about 
"          Form  of  Scythes, 
"         How  to  Handle,  , 
Cultivator,  The  Star,   .     . 


297 

375 

386 

168 

196 

228 

10 

12 

57 

213 

215 

294 

295 

23 

346 

347 

350 


PAGE 

Cultivator,  Alden's,  .  .  .209 
Ide's,  ....  142 
Fink's,  ....  199 

Cultivating  on  Sod  Ground,  .  203 
after  Potatoes,  .  186 
after  Turnips,  .  188 
after  Peas,  .  .  190 
growing  Wheat,  200 
Shallow  Plowing 
for  Wheat,  .  184 

Culture  of  Wheat  Chemically 
Considered, 133 

Cutter,  National  Fodder,  .     .  423 

Cutting  Vegetables  for  Stock,  426 

D 

Day's  Work, 365 

Depth  to  Cover  Wheat,  .  .  284 
Degeneracy  of  Wheat,  .  .  253 
Dibbling  Wheat,  ....  303 
Difference  Explained,  .  .  .289 
' '  between  Winter  and 

Spring  Wheat,  .  63 
Dodge's  Reaper,  ....  400 
DriUing-in  Wheat,  ....  309 
Drill,  Beckwith's,  ....  306 

"     The  Star, 321 

"     Brown's  Celebrated,     .  314 

"     The  Buckeye,     .     .     .316 

Drilling-ill,  Philosophy  of,     .  312 

Drilling  Crosswise,  ....  316 

E 

Early  Wheat,  How  to  Raise,  280 
Emblem  of  Civilization,  .  .  18 
Ergoted  Wheat, 413 


Fanning  Mill,  Nutting's,  .     .  301 


430 


INDEX. 


Fanning  Mill,  Harder's,  .  .  303 
Fallows,  about  Summer,  .  .  143 
Fastidiousness  of  Growing 

Wheat, 66 

Fattening  the  Soil  for  Wheat,  139 
Fields,  Rough  vs.  Smooth,  .  212 
Fingers  for  Cradles,  How  to 

Make, 351 

Fink's  Cultivator,  ....  199 
Flint,  Old  White,  ....  97 
Force  in  Vegetation  of  Wheat,  67 
Fork,  Montgomery's,  .  .  .  405 

Fodder  Cutter, 423 

Freezing  and  Thawing  of  Soil,  123 

G 

Gavels,  How  to  Rake,  .     .     .  356 
"      How  to  Bind,  .     .     .358 

"      Size  of, 354 

Genesee  Wheat, 99 

Gilbert's  Subsoil  Plough,  .  .  162 
Gleanings,  How  to  Manage,  .  424 
Great  Yield  of  one  Kernel,  .  85 
Grain,  Remedy  for  Lodged,  .  163 
"  Sowing  Broadcast,  .  .  299 
Growing  Wheat  Then  and 

Now 14 

Guano  for  Wheat,    .     .     .     .180 

H 

-Habit  of  Wheat  Plant,  .  .  49 
Harvest,  When  to  Cut  Wheat,  343 

"        Cutting  Wheat   too 

Green,    .     .     .     .343 

"        Time,    .     ...     .     .333 

Harrow,  Monroe's,  ....  290 

"        Mshwitz's  Disk,  .     .324 
Harrowing  Wheat,  ....  201 

Hard  Wheats, 74 

Heavy  Kernels, 238 

Holbrook's  Plough,  .  .232,  234 
Hybridizing  of  Wheat,  .  .  40 


Illustration  of  Winter  Wheat,  126 
Wheat  Head,  .     25 
Improvement  in  Wheats,  .     .     81 
Introduction  to  Wheat   Cul- 
ture,         9 


Influence     of     Climate     on 

Wheat, 12 

Insects,  Enemies  of  Wheat,  .  416 

"       Midge, 418 

"       Wheat  Worms.      .     .  419 
The  Chinch  Bug,     .  419 

K 

Kernels  in  a  Bushel,    .     .     .  278 
Greatest  yield  of  one,     85 

"       Large  or  Small,    .     .  242 

"       of    Wheat,     how 

formed,  .     .     .     .137 

"  How  they  Germinate,  26 
Kentucky  Red  or  Whig  Wheat,  103 
Kernel  Magnified,  ....  27 
Knives,  Keeping  Sharp,  .  .  331 

"       Reynolds',  .     .     .     .332 


Laboring  Disadvantageous^,  361 
Lodging  Grain,  Remedy  for,  .  163 

M 

Manures,     Nitrogenous     for 

Wheat,  .  .  .177 
"  Burying  Deep  or 

Shallow,  .  .  .183 
"  Surface  Manuring,  216 
"  Manuring  Sandy 

Soils,  ....  219 
Machine,  Thrashing,  .  .  .  421 
Manufactory  of  Poudrette,  .  176 
Manure,  Different  Kinds  on 

Wheat, 172 

Manuring    the    Surface    for 

Wheat, 216 

Material,  Carbonaceous,  .  .  168 
May  Early  Wheat,  ....  98 
Mediterranean  Wheat,  .  .  114 
Mildew  in  Wheat,  ....  406 
Monroe's  Harrow,  ....  290 
Mulching  Wheat,  .  .  .  .225 
Mucky  Soils  for  Wheat,  .  .  218 

N 

Names  of  Varieties,      ...  90 

Nomenclature  of  Wheat,  .     .  87 

Nutting's  Fanning  Mill,     .     ,  301 


INDEX. 


431 


o 


Organic  Elements  of  Wheat,  153 


Pasturing  Wheat,     ....  223 

Pedigree  Wheat,      ....     91 

Ploughs,  Gilbert's  Subsoil,    .  162 

"        Cast-Steel,     .     .     .323 

"        Gang, 142 

Ploughing  Deep  for  Wheat,  .  157 
Plant  of  Wheat  Illustrated,  .  52 
Plumule  Magnified,  ...  30 
Potatoes  before  Wheat,  .  .  186 
Polish  Wheats,  Hard  and  Soft,  74 
Poudrette,  Home-made,  .  .174 
"  Manufactory,  .  .  176 
Prolificacy  of  Wheat,  ...  69 


Quack  Rake,  Alden's,  .     .     .144 
Quantity  of  Seed  per  Acre,    .  276 

R 

Rake,  Warner's, 401 

"      Alden's, 402 

Raking  and  Binding,    .     .     .  352 

Reynolds'  Sections,  or  Knives,  332 

Reapers,  The  Kirby,     .     .     .327 

"        Dodge's,    .     .     .     .400 

"        Buckeye,  ....  403 

"        Cayuga  Chief,    .     .  386 

Roots  and  Spongioles,  ...     31 

Root  Cutter,  Excelsior,     .     .  427 

Rule  about  Seeds,    .     .     .     .241 

Rust,  and  Remedy  for,      .     .  414 

S 
Sandy  Soils  for  Wheat,      .     .  219 

Salt  for  Wheat, 227 

Scythes,  How  to  Grind,    .     .     35 
"       for  Cradles,  best  form 

of, 347 

Seeding  without  Ploughing,  .  222 
Seed  Wheat,  How  to  Save,  .  235 
Seed  Wheat  at  the  North,  .  249 
Seedtime,  The  Best,  .  .  .259 
Seed  Wheat,  Suggestions,  .  281 
"  "  Proper  Depth  to 

Cover,    .     .  284 


Seed  Wheat,   Fatal    Experi- 
ments with,  318 
"          "         Brining,      .     .  320 
Seeding  Thick  and  Thin,  .     .  274 
Shallow  Culture  for  Wheat,  .  184 
Sheep  and  Wheat,    ....  193 
Sheaf  of  Wheat,      .     .     .     .363 
Sheaves,  Setting  up,    ...  367 
"        How  to  Handle,     .  367 
"        How  to  Pitch  and 

Load,      .     .  380,  381 
"        How  to  Mow,     .     .  384 
Sheep    in    connection    with 

Wheat, 193 

Shocking  Wheat,     ....  366 

Smut  in  Wheat,  .     .     ..    .     .408 

"     Experiments  with,  .     .  411 
Silica,  Deposits  of ,  .     .     .     .  415 

Soils,  Sandy  Loam  for  Wheat,  221 
"  Best  for  Wheat,  .  .  .128 
"  How  to  Raise  Wheat 

on  a  Poor,     .     .     .210 
"     What  it   Requires   for 

Wheat, 167 

Soil,  What  Barren  Lacks,  .   .  170 
Soil,  Best  Quality  for  Wheat,  128 
"     What  it  Requires,     .     .167 
"     and    Preparation     for 

Wheat, 120 

Sowing  Wheat  Broadcast,  .  313 
Sowing  Wheat  in  Winter,  .  .266 
Sowing  among  Indian  Corn,  205 
Sowing  on  Corn  Stubble,  .  .  206 
Spring  Wheat,  When  to  Sow,  270 
"  "  Sowing  Broad- 

cast,    .      .  213 
"  "      Culture  of,  .    .  287 

Spring  and  Winter,  Difference 

between, 63 

Spring  Black  Sea,  ....  116 
Spongioles  Magnified,  ...  29 
Speech  of  Old  Crevecosur,  .  23 
Spring  Wheat,  Triticum  CEsti- 

vum, 17 

Straw,  Color  of 341 

Stories  about  Large  Crops,  .  71 
Stems,  How  Formed,  ...  55 
Stooks,  How  to  Make,  .  .  370 
Stool  of  Stubble,  ....  54 
•'  Wheat, 53 


432 


INDEX. 


Stem  of  Wheat  Magnified,    .     30 
Stories,  Large  Wheat,  ...     71 
Subsoil  Plough,  Gilbert's,     .  162 
Subsoiling-  for  Wheat,  .     .     .160 
Summer  Fallows,     ....  143 
"        Object  of,  .  150 
Fallowing   an  Ex- 
hausting System,  .  153 
Stacks,  How  Made,      .     .     .390 
"       Topping  Out,  .     .     .398 


Tappahannock  Wheat,  ...  114 
Turnips  and  Wheat,    "...  188 


Varieties,  How    to    Produce 

New,  .  .  .244 
"  Names  of,  ...  90 
"  Undescribed,  .  .  119 
"  Should  be  kept 

Pure,      .     .     .247 
Vitality  of  Seed  Wheat,    .     .  239 

W 

Wheat,  Degeneracy  of,  .  .  253 
u  When  to  Sow,  .  .  .259 
"  Sowing  in  Winter,  .  266 
"  Sowing  Early  and 

Late,     .     .     .     .270 
"       Thick  and  Thin  Seed- 
ing,   274 

"       Amount  of  Seed  per 

Acre,  .  .  .  .276 
"  What  becomes  of 

Seed,  .  .  .  .278 
'.'  Baking  and  Binding,  352 
"  Chemical  Structure 

of, 10 

"       Emblem  of    Civiliza- 
tion,     ....     18 
"       Botanical  Description 

of, 24 

"       Hybridizing  of,     .     .     40 
"      Hard,    Soft,    and 

Polish,  ...  74 
"  Prolificacy  of ,  ...  69 


PAGB 

Wheat,  After  Spring  Crops,  .  145 

"       Stems      of,     How 

Formed,    ...     55 

"       Fastidiousness  of 

Growing,  v     .     .     66 

"       Force    in  Vegetation 

of, 67 

Organic  Elements  of,  135 
Limit  of  Region,  .  .  75 
Improvement  of,  .  .  81 
On  Clay  Loam,  .  .  131 
Fattening  the  Soil  for,  139 
Culture  of,  on  Prairies,  140 
On  Sod  Ground,  .  .  203 
Among  Indian  Corn,  .  205 
On  Corn  Stubble,  .  .  206 
On  Mucky  Soils,  .  .  218 
Pasturing,  ....  223 
Mulching,  ....  225 
Salt  for,  .  .  .  .227 
Alabama,  ....  100 
Andriolo,  ....  101 

Diehl, 105 

Egyptian,     .     .     .     .107 

Bald, 94 

Black  Sea,  .  .  .  .116 
BlutTStem,  ....  96 

Bull, 97 

Early  May,  ....  98 
Genesee,  ....  95 

Indiana, 98 

Kentucky  Red,  .  .  103 
Golden  Straw,  .  .  112 
Fife,  Spring,  .  .  .  118 
Mediterranean,  .  .  114 
Rio  Grande,  .  .  .  117 
Tea,  China,  .  .  .117 
Silverstraw,  .  .  .118 
Pedigree,  ....  91 
Tappahannock,  .  .  114 

Whig, 103 

White  Flint,     ...     99 

Week's, 109 

Tillering  of,  ...  53 
Winter,  Triticum  Hy- 

bernum,     ...     17 

"       Spring, 17 

Winter  Fallowing,    ....  154 


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